Hover Totality: Escalation
by NuclearCookout
Summary: The Freedom Fighters & their allies fight for liberation amidst a bitter world war while unfeeling droids & vicious assassins imperil their survival. FINAL CHAPTER IS UP. -Violence/Grit/Some sexuality; not explicit
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

A salvo of luminous bullets flew ahead of Kaolin's sleek, triangular jet as she squeezed the firing triggers with vigor, bloodstream coursing with adrenaline, heart pulsing fast. Her hapless target, a Shaulandic fighter pilot, was panicking as he tried in futility to eject as his craft was ripped apart by her bullets, but it exploded in a bright burst of flaming debris before he had the chance. Kaolin said a quick prayer for the slain enemy pilot as she zoomed over the falling remains, then picked another Shaulandic aircraft out of the remaining dozen as her next target.

Ten months had passed since the devastating nuclear exchange between the United Federation and Shauland. Shauland and its allies invaded the war-torn United Federation shortly thereafter with massive land, air, and sea forces, but they were met with more resistance than they had expected. The war was long and grueling, with each side taking many losses.

The Freedom Fighters were assisting in another large air battle within United Federation airspace. They, along with UniFed, GUN, and United Cyborg Hegemony pilots had just launched a bombing campaign on a trio of sizeable enemy bases when a large Shaulandic sky carrier came to assist, spewing its eight-dozen fighters to destroy the five-dozen people responsible. In addition to avoiding hostile aircraft, they had to dodge anti-air flak rounds from the colossal eighteen-hundred-feet-long ship.

Kaolin chased another aircraft and blew it out of the sky soon after, but the intensity of the situation grew when a more persistent fighter began to pursue her, guns blazing. She performed the standard evasion maneuvers, but those were quickly proven ineffective. When she executed more complex maneuvers, her pursuer not only kept up, he started using guided missiles, making the fight even more perilous. She knew he wasn't an ordinary pilot, but was unaware that he had already shot down five other allies. The ash-gray fox narrowly dodged each missile before Oryn came to her aid. He arrowed his sleek customized aircraft in behind them from a higher altitude and sent a missile screaming toward his new target. It hammered the port engine thruster and carved out a large flaming hole which quickly led to the other engine bursting into flames and exploding. The fuel tanks ignited shortly thereafter, and the once-formidable Shaulandic pilot met his end as a shower of blazing debris strewn across the battlefield.

The teal cyborg fox saluted Kaolin as he flew by, and she nodded her head in approval and thanks.

Only three Shauland fighter jets remained, and each were shot down in due time, one by one. With no direct air-to-air defense, and its anti-fighter cannons having proven to be largely ineffective, the massive sky carrier began to tilt to the right as it turned tail in an attempt to flee back to its docking station outside of the country. The allies promptly swarmed the carrier, blasting its anti-air cannons apart and unleashing the remainder of their ordnance upon its hull. The huge ship slowly began to lose altitude as its gravitational repulsor drives were damaged beyond function, and the remaining crew started to evacuate in escape pods. This commenced the next objective in the allies' plans: capturing the ship's captain. It didn't take long for their scanners to verify the captain's escape pod, and after his escorts were shot down, his pod was disabled and captured. In the meantime, the carrier broke apart against a hillside and exploded as each reactor was sequentially breached.

Following the victory, the allies flew back to their main base of operations just outside of a large city called Fort Dallas, which had sustained heavy artillery and bombing damage during the first weeks of the war, but escaped nuclear destruction. They had lost a fifth of their airmen during the battle, but the victory was significant. They had not only destroyed three large bases, which had been a major hindrance for them up until then, but they had also taken down ninety-six enemy craft, shot down a carrier, and captured its captain. Carrier captains normally contained valuable logistics and coding information. The difficult part was extracting the info, but the rough interrogation techniques generally proved effective.

Upon exiting their jets, Tails and Kaolin embraced one another and kissed tenderly. Both of the nineteen-year-old vulpine pilots were still shaking from the sheer adrenaline of the ordeal, and walking was more of a controlled stumble. As always, they were thankful to be in each other's loving arms yet again.

"Lin, your piloting is getting better. I saw you shoot some of them down very quickly." Tails ran his fingers through her frazzled hair and smiled.

Kaolin gave a halfhearted chuckle. "Yeah, well one of them almost got me. Oryn saved both of my tails. Seems their pilots are learning," She stared into her husband's eyes and kissed him again. "We are all getting better, though. Our enemies will soon realize that they don't have an unlimited amount of good pilots."

"And soon, they won't even have a leg to stand on...though I probably shouldn't be talking about that," quipped the mechanically-legged Oryn as he interrupted in a rude yet friendly manner. "Little cyborg joke there. Anyways, good job you two. Great to see we still have worthy pilots out there. I'm off to grab a soda." With that, he walked off and complemented some of the other pilots before heading to a large refrigerator.

The vulpine couple stood there for a few moments, slightly befuddled, but they grinned and made their way into the lounge area. As they walked, Tails looked over at his wife with a smirk. "That was a little awkward, but it's good to have someone with his spirit within our ranks."

Kaolin nodded. "He's good at keeping spirits high. That's definitely a must for our guys."

Later that evening, over one hundred members from various factions enjoyed a sizeable party in a large, abandoned warehouse near the base. Security concerns warranted five mobile rapid-fire auto-chaingun emplacements being situated around the building, which was quite vulnerable to small artillery fire and explosives. There were many scouts patrolling the area as well, and the scanning equipment was on high alert. Most of the attendees were in the center of the cavernous room, dancing amongst the darting strobe lights and floor-level smoke to heavy hardcore rave tunes being spun by the DJ at the front. Others chose to sit at the numerous tables scattered about and attempted to talk over the strident, pulsing music.

The Freedom Fighters and a few United Cyborg Hegemony operatives, including Oryn and Jack, were all sitting at a large fold-out table, enjoying laughs and sharing stories over a round of drinks. The table was situated at one of the room's corners, lessening the overall vocally-muffling effect of the music.

Oryn, Jack, Rotor, and Sonic were in roaring laughter after an amusing past occurrence was brought up, pertaining to playing mind games with a confused Shauland soldier which led to the destruction of an entire enemy unit. The others at the table were also laughing, but without verve of that magnitude. Kaolin was the least-boisterous in the group, plodding around in the vast expanse of her mind once more. Her reticence, fixed gaze, and general lack of facial expressions caught Tails' attention, but before he could say anything, she got up and walked off, much to the perplexity of the rest of the gang.

She slipped out to an enclosed, but still open-air, area to think. The fox quietly sat upon a bench and stared impassively into the deep blue sky at the emerging stars, more of which presented themselves as the Sun sank further below the painted horizon. Her two tails twitched slightly as she began a recollection of the dreams she had shortly before the world war, as well as ones she'd dreamt afterwards. She generally had a very tumultuous dream preceding an attack or some other large and troubling event. Sometimes the dreams would be vague, other times they'd be fairly specific. It became reliable enough to where some of her warnings actually prevented a bad situation from becoming worse.

As her train of thought migrated to other subjects, Tails walked up and sat next to her on the bench. He clasped his hands on his lap and twiddled his thumbs while bobbing his tails up and down in correlation with the movements. "How's everything holding up, 'Lin?" The question came in a soft, careful tone.

A chill came about the air as she failed to respond. She simply continued to stare blankly at the crepuscular sky.

"Or would you rather have some peace?"

She jumped slightly when she finally realized he was there and gave a response with a sheepish smile. "Oh, no, you're fine. I was just...gathering thoughts while spacing-out."

"It's those dreams again, isn't it?"

She shifted her gaze back toward the sky and sighed softly. "Partially, but...I just want this war to end. I want to be able to take a stroll without worrying about bombings or snipers or assassins."

Various assassination attempts had been made on each of the Freedom Fighters since the war began. Of the more major attempts, Sonic, Antoine and Bunnie narrowly escaped a sabotaged ship that took the lives of three others; Sally had been left partially paralyzed for a brief amount of time from poisoned food; Rotor was almost killed when a convoy he was in was hit by an air strike resulting from a friendly bomber's hacked systems; Amy suffered a broken leg from a club-wielding robot; Tails came close to being mauled by a pack of trained animals; and Kaolin acquired a mild concussion from her humvee running over a landmine placed under one of the tires where it was parked.

Tails nodded and joined her in gazing upon the twinkling dots of stellar light. "As do I, which brings me to my next subject. We managed to extract a considerable amount of information from the captain of that carrier we toasted. We got names, base locations, coding, all sorts of valuable goodies. We'll be planning a strike tomorrow."

"Good." Kaolin grinned almost unnoticeably. "The more progress we make, the faster we can liberate our country and hasten our efforts to rebuild our forces. Then it's just one or two steps away from fully defeating Shauland and its allies."

A smile crept upon Tails' face. "And then we can get back to our lives, and...start that family we'd planned." He quickly pointed out a bright meteor streaking across the sky, furthering their enjoyment of the evening.

Kaolin smiled as well, and the two placed an arm across the other's shoulders, head leaning against head and tails intertwining.

The next day found the Freedom Fighters in a meeting room with other faction officials. Reports had come in from other countries; some were optimistic, and some were grim. Kaolin was struggling to pay attention because of mental distress. She'd had another chaotic dream.

"We are getting mixed messages," proclaimed the avian leader of one of the groups. "Both good news and bad news. Of the latter, we have received word that a Mercia Defense Coalition base in its corresponding country has been hit with a tactical nuke which wiped out most of the people there."

The news incited whispers, shocked expressions, and whistles amongst the people there.

"As well, a base in the allied nation of Vasyugan has been overrun by numerous units of a new type of shape-shifting drone. We have been advised to keep an eye out for any drones that look even slightly out of the ordinary. These things are very fast and very deadly."

"Do they know of any possible weaknesses?" The question arose from a turtle from the UCH who was hastily taking notes.

"As far as intel goes, they can be destroyed if hit by a rocket just right, but their armor shifts positions very regularly. They can morph into aerial vehicles, wheeled vehicles, stationary gun platforms, bipedal units, boats and submersibles. Now, moving on to the next part of the main subject—the positive news—overall tactics and operations are becoming more effective, and enemy forces are slowly being pushed back all over the globe. Very slowly, but surely."

The higher-ups in each group began muttering amongst themselves on how to prepare for the new threat. The meeting ended a few minutes later, and the groups dispersed to their respective bases of operations or sections of the complex. The Freedom Fighters held a short follow-up meeting to discuss more in-depth planning, and everyone took a break afterwards.

Tails and Kaolin used that time to head to the infirmary segment of the base in order to visit Tails' parents, Amadeus Prower and his ailing wife, Rosemary Prower. Kaolin knew how Tails felt about the ordeal, and she sympathized. His mother was very sick with a life-threatening, but non-contagious, illness, and every time they visited, he would get bleary-eyed and try in vain to hide his sadness. A cure was being developed, but they weren't sure how long she would last. Even as she and Tails walked, she could see his countenance slowly decline.

Upon arrival to the main area, the doctor opened the door to the room, and the two were greeted by his father with a whisper. "Ohhh hello Tails, Kaolin! Good to see you again. Eh, we need to be fairly quiet because your mother's aslee-..."

He was cut off when his wife spoke up. "Oh, hush ya silly. I'm awake. Come in! Always glad to have visitors! It really brightens my day!"

Her broken voice and frail appearance nearly drove Tails over the edge of despondency, but he held it in as best he could. "Hey mom! How are you feeling?"

She noticed his eyelid twitching slightly and immediately knew he was troubled by her declining condition. "I'm feeling decent today...and don't worry, they're working on a cure. I hear it's almost ready. Now, come over here and give me a hug. You too, Kaolin."

They both received a big warm hug after walking to her bedside, and Tails experienced a peculiar mix of happiness and nearly debilitating grief.

"So, have the battles been very rough?"

"Not terribly. 'Lin and I take down the baddies pretty effectively. It can get tense, but we manage." He briefly glanced at a tube in his mother's arm.

Rosemary smiled approvingly. "Good to hear. I'm very proud of both of you."

Those words pushed Tails even further down the path of sadness which made him blurt his next sentence. "Well, I guess we'll be heading out. We have stuff to do. I love you, mom." The final three words were broken.

His mother smiled again. "I love you too, sweetie, and you, Kaolin. You both make me very proud. And don't you worry, I'll get over this little roadblock in due time. I truly believe that."

That was all Tails could stand, and he speed-walked out through the door after smiling once more. Kaolin sensed imminent emotional collapse from her other half and gave a hasty reply. "I do too, Mrs. Prower. I'll see you two later."

She went into the hallway to find her husband standing in the middle of the path, staring down the lit white passage. His eyes were big and filled with tears, and his lower lip was quivering. All she managed to say was his name before he uttered a quick "I'll be fine" in a broken tone and started to walk off. He didn't get far before he stumbled over into a wall and began weeping with his head on his forearm.

She rushed to his side and placed her arm over his shoulders, lightly moving her hand over his upper arm in consolation. "It's going to be fine, Tails. You know they're working on the cure. She's going to get better. Be confident!"

"I just hate seeing her like that, 'Lin. Every time we visit, she looks worse. Conventional medicine doesn't work and reliable herbal remedies don't work either. The cure needs to be developed faster. I don't want to lose her." He closed his eyes tightly and fought off more tears, but without much success.

"Don't give up, hon. Don't lose faith. They'll get it done in time."

Tails opened his eyes, wiped away the tears and nodded in agreement. It was then that the alarms began to sound, and a second later, Tails and Kaolin were blown to the floor by an explosion.

--

Author's notes: Keep an eye out for Chapter Two, coming soon! Please review!

--

Canon Sonic characters and places © Sonic Team, Sega  
Kaolin, story, other original characters, countries and organizations, etc © NuclearCookout


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

Kaolin slowly stood back up and rubbed a bruise on her arm, left by a piece of flying debris. She began to panic when her mind finally grasped the likelihood of the base being under attack, and she immediately checked on Tails' condition. He was unconscious, though she awakened him with ease. When Tails became fully aware of the situation, his eyes widened, and he rushed back to his mother's room to see if they were alright. Both of them were fine, though startled, and Amadeus was guarding his wife's bed with a high-caliber automatic weapon.

"Tails! What happened?" asked his shaken father as he struggled to keep the heavy weapon stable.

Tails was thankful beyond measure that they were still alive. "I really don't know the details, but I will say this. Stay alert and keep the door locked until the all-clear is given."

His parents nodded, and he and Kaolin raced to the hangar bay as fast as they could. If the attack was being carried out by the aforementioned drones, they needed to be in their jets as soon as possible.

"Kaolin, this could be bad. I think I hear turbine engines outside." Frightened exigency inundated his voice.

Kaolin looked over at him briefly. "I hear them too. I just hope that they're not those things that attacked Vasyugan recently."

As they ran, they could see peculiar aircraft from the windows. Some were soaring through the air and engaging pilots who had just taken off. Others were almost hovering, using rapid-fire antipersonnel miniguns to mow down anyone who was unfortunate enough to be within range. A few of them had landed on the ground and transformed into bipedal and wheeled units.

The wheeled units promptly inflated their tires, unfolded their machine guns, and peeled-out before speeding toward every running target they could find, shooting some and running others over with cold determination.

The bipedal units—or "mechs" as the victims called them—focused on tearing their way into the buildings and slaughtering the inhabitants. They were roughly ten feet tall and sported two shoulder-mounted anti-tank cannons, two forearm-mounted miniguns, and two clawed hands which they used for ripping walls apart.

Tails panicked upon realizing what they were and increased his speed. "Yep, it's them. We gotta get to our jets FAST,"

The two ran with even more vigor and used their tails as propellers for added speed.

They were almost to the hallway which led directly into the hangar when a mech plowed into their path with a loud crash. The resulting cloud of thick dust allowed them to scramble into an adjacent room before it could notice their presence. Tails quickly turned off the lights, and the two ran to another door at the back of the room. Lowering the light proved to be pointless since the mech used heat-sensing optics to see its prey. It ripped a gaping hole in the wall right as the door closed and subsequently aimed its arms before perforating the door with a shower of large bullets, barely missing the terrified foxes.

Tails and Kaolin raced into another room, and as Tails reached for another door handle, he noticed that the room they were in contained tanks of highly flammable gas. He ushered Kaolin through the doorway and quickly armed a timed mine taken from his utility belt, then tossed it at the tanks moments later. He followed his wife seconds before the mech barged inside, and the bomb detonated, igniting the tanks and setting the murderous robot ablaze. The resultant shrapnel cut gashes into important control conduits in the machine, allowing the fire to wreak havoc on its systems. The mech managed to plow through one more wall before collapsing to the floor in a lifeless metal heap.

Without slowing down, the vulpine couple sprinted to the hangar bay, only to find a large battle taking place on the floor. The bodies of slain soldiers were scattered across the bloody concrete expanse, and the surviving soldiers were hiding behind heavy equipment and destroyed ships, using shoulder-fired and floor-mounted small artillery in an attempt to stop the three mechs which had kept the remaining pilots from taking off.

Tails and Kaolin put their backs against a wall, pistols drawn, and pondered a way to handle the situation. They couldn't just walk in and start shooting because their weapons were too weak, and they didn't have access to the heavier weaponry required to stand a chance against those things.

An idea suddenly popped into Tails' head, leading to a grin, and he explained the plan to his wife. They would go around the side of the hangar and enter through the front, start their VTOL ships while the mechs were distracted, and blow them apart with the retractable rotating cannons on the underside of the aircraft. Kaolin was somewhat skeptical at first, but she agreed, knowing of no better way.

They silently snuck out through a door and into an open-air loading bay with various large crates, making sure there weren't any air units waiting to shoot them to ribbons. A few wheeled units were seen speeding by, but the machines were more focused on other ground targets to notice. Explosions rattled the ground as an armory was bombed, adding to the already substantial apprehension, and chunks of smoking debris landed all around the perimeter. When they were within two feet of the massive doorway, Tails and Kaolin kissed and expressed their love for each other with the knowledge that they might not get another chance to do so if the plan failed.

The two made sure their weapons were primed for battle, and they snuck in after peeking around the corner and rapidly analyzing the situation. The mechs were indeed distracted and had little reason to worry about a rear attack due to their wheeled and winged counterparts. The two split up and approached their respective ships, keeping a vigilant eye open for any and all danger.

Their jets were standard Freedom Fighter issue. They were compact, sleek, tailless, triangular aircraft that appeared to be something of a cross between an X-44 MANTA and an F-117, though the most obvious deviation from either design was the set of four canards mounted on either side between the nose and the cockpit in a split-X configuration. At the end of the twin turbofan engines were highly efficient thrust vectoring nozzles with the capability of being tilted ninety degrees up, down, and to either side. Situated beneath and to the outer side of each engine were two vertical thrusters, also with substantial directional variability. The near-black paint served numerous purposes including radar evasion, nocturnal camouflage, and solar energy absorption.

The canopies opened with a clean, silent hiss, and they hopped in, donned their helmets and initiated the power. The mechs didn't even have time to react before a flurry of explosive bullets tore through their vulnerable areas, and all three collapsed to the floor. The other pilots cheered loudly and saluted the heroes, who wasted no time in starting their engines and taking off into the vast blue expanse of the sky.

No later than when they soared past the treetops did two robotic air units take notice and begin their pursuit. Both of the foxes took the machines' thick armor into consideration and decided that the best course of action was to get behind them and fire explosives into the thrusters.

They broke formation and engaged the attackers, which proved to be truly difficult. Tails tried everything he knew about dogfighting—which was quite extensive—to outsmart the droid, but it clung to his path like a barnacle on a rock. A bullet would hit occasionally, and he would hear a loud 'chink' sound over the roar of the engines. An alarm began to sound when his fuel tank was breached, and his desire to get the battle over with was thrown into overdrive. He used flares, air mines, and rear-targeting missiles, but none of his tactics worked. A few bullets found their way into his thrusters, and his jet started to smoke heavily from the damages caused. It was then that the robot's proficiency dwindled because of the thick smoke obscuring its sensors, something that Tails noticed right away. He quickly pulled up and looped behind the obstinate robot and unleashed a hailstorm of explosive rounds into its engines, causing it to ignite, careen into a valley, and explode in a bright starburst of flaming debris upon impact with the ground.

Tails' heart was racing ferociously and sweat was streaming down his face. His victory allowed him to calm down somewhat, as did the sounds representing his ship's autorepair systems doing their job. One of his engines shut itself off as the most critical damages were repaired, and the other engine followed suit when its counterpart was fixed and resumed full operation. He checked his radar to see where Kaolin was, and was surprised to see that the dot representing his wife was a considerable distance away. He set a course and upped his jet's speed to maximum, and his face became glazed with solid determination. Something didn't feel right. Something told him that Kaolin was in absolute danger.

By the time Tails had shot down his opponent, Kaolin had been led way out of the area. The robot relentlessly followed her, no matter what maneuver she executed. The ash-gray fox began to panic when systems showed a growing number of hull breaches. The bullets kept hitting her ship, ripping various essential connections to shreds. Seconds later, her starboard engine caught fire, and another alarm sound was added to the dozen others that were going off. She began to spiral when part of a smoking wing detached, and the droid broke off from her trail, certain that she was about to meet her end. By then, she was almost coming unglued, trying desperately to stabilize the craft. The ground was flying toward her at a staggering speed, and a large barn was quickly brought into view. The terrified fox activated the retro-rockets to slow her swift descent, but it only did so much. In addition to the already dire situation, the ejection seat refused to respond. She screamed when her jet collided with the wooden structure. The wings were sheared off upon coming into contact with large farming equipment, and the hull was shredded as it scraped across the paved floor. Her craft slammed into a large harvesting machine, and many sharp pieces of metal penetrated the fuselage.

Tails nearly had a heart attack when the dot disappeared from his radar. "No no NO NO! KAOLIN!" The appearance of an enemy dot moving back towards the base only compounded his fear that she had been shot down.

Kaolin was slumped over on her dashboard, a result of the crash harness having given way. She slowly righted herself and beheld what surrounded her. A large shard of metal was positioned uncomfortably close to her head, and various others were near her legs and right hip. To her astonishment, she wasn't in much pain, save for a strong tingly burning sensation in her lower-right leg. Her next objective was to get out of the wreck before it caught on fire and blew up. She removed her helmet and the remainder of the crash harness and tossed them out of the cockpit, the canopy of which was sitting on a stack of hay a few feet away. After coughing a few times, she propped herself out of the seat and attempted to hop out, but tumbled to the ground when a stray piece of fabric caught her belt. The fall made the pain in her leg skyrocket, and she cringed from the stark intensity. Before she could check on the issue, a more important one caught her eye. The barn was on fire, and the jet was leaking fuel. Kaolin's eyes widened, and she made a dash for the large open door. She only managed to take one step before tumbling to the ground again, and the pain in her leg doubled. The beleaguered fox shouted in agony and looked down to see if there was a broken bone or a piece of debris causing the issue.

Her face became awash in horror when she saw that there was no lower leg to look at.

The lower half of her right lower leg had been severed completely by one of the pieces of metal that had penetrated the fuselage. The flash-heating of the metal from the force of the impact had caused some cauterization, but it was still bleeding heavily. She quickly retrieved some cloth from her medical kit and used it as a tourniquet, praying that it would make the bleeding stop and keep her increasing lightheadedness from getting worse. When that was completed, she spun her tails and flew outside an instant before the wreck exploded. The shockwave hit her like a sledgehammer, knocking her to the ground and robbing her of most of her consciousness. A moment before the remainder of her consciousness slipped away, she saw two small blurs moving in the background.

--

Author's notes: More excitement is just around the corner! Please review!

--

Canon Sonic characters and places © Sonic Team, Sega  
Kaolin, story, other original characters, countries and organizations, etc © NuclearCookout


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

Tails' world collapsed all around him when he unsuccessfully tried to radio his wife, receiving only the sound of heart-crushing static. He tapped on his radar to see if it wasn't just a glitch, but the only moving dot was that of the robot which had allegedly snuffed her young life. In his mind, the possibility of her having survived the crash was next to nothing, as the beacon in that type of aircraft was unable to be deactivated unless the ejection seat was destroyed. He put his jet into hover mode and leaned back against his seat, and tears streamed down his face as he repeated his wife's name over and over again. He knew that death was always a possibility in dogfighting, but he just wasn't prepared to deal with the death of his other half. He finally knew what she had felt when he had briefly died during the sniper incident at Station Square. Memories of their all their years together, starting from when they had met five years prior, flooded his thoughts. It was reminiscent of a movie being played at a high speed. Their fire-forged relationship had been cut short by a cold, unfeeling machine, built by an equally emotionless regime.

Shauland had to be stopped, and it had to be stopped soon.

The alarms began to sound as the enemy dot started to make its way to his position, and a smaller dot, flashing bright red, was ahead of it, increasing speed. He nearly flew out of his skin and gunned his jet forward to avoid the missile, and the G-force from the sudden thrust sent his mind spinning for a few moments. He took his jet over a lush valley as the droid followed, drawing closer and closer to its target. The nose dipped downward as he aimed for the river below, intending to use the uneven landscape to his advantage.

While he struggled to find a suitable area to perform certain precise maneuvers, the enemy caught up to him and released a volley of bullets, hitting his craft multiple times. Tails scowled and jerked his ship around with more vigor, enabling him to dodge more bullets, but not all of them. Finally, he came upon a steep drop with a waterfall, and a smile crept across his face. He increased his speed sharply to allow for more space between his attacker and himself, then quickly decreased the speed as he reached the edge. Once over the edge, he activated some top-firing jets that caused him to drop almost instantly, and he stopped while watching the droid overshoot his position. He took those few moments to gather himself; the sudden G-forces were not kind to him. The determined fox punched the throttle and arrowed his jet right behind the robot, then fired at the engines and scored only a few hits before the machine spun around, reversed its engine output, and fired full-force at Tails while flying in reverse.

Astonished, Tails increased his altitude and decreased his speed, a move which the robot reciprocated without effort. Every time he tried to jump forward, the robot would get in the way and land a couple more hits. It came to the point where there was only vertical movement, and the two danced around each other in a wavy, erratic pattern as they ascended into the sky, guns wildly throwing out hot tungsten slugs. A minute passed before Tails began to hear alarms indicating serious issues, and he broke the formation and flew in reverse after having gotten an idea. He launched most of his flares into the machine's path with a follow-up of missiles and large incendiary rounds. The robot, too, launched a massive amount of bullets and explosives, but was unable to aim properly because of the obscuring cloud created by the flares' smoke trails. It was immediately blown apart and hit the ground as a shower of flaming metal shards, and Tails almost met a similar fate. The sound of the collective collisions of all those bullets upon his hull was almost deafening, and the staggering amount of damage dealt caused his engines to stall. Unable to stay aloft, he began a rapid downward spiral.

For the first few moments of freefall, he contemplated not even bothering with attempting a restart. The astounding pain of having lost Kaolin had briefly sapped him of his will to live. However, he recognized the illogicality—and indeed, insanity—of desiring death because his mate was lost. He still had a life to live, and he knew his wife would be sorely disappointed in him if he allowed himself to die just because she was no longer with him.

He saw that the autorepair systems were not working, so he fidgeted with various switches to get them back online. Focusing on which switches to flip was rather difficult since he was a spinning fireball, and the centrifugal force was tampering with his ability to see straight. The systems came back online with a series of hums, and he got a holographic readout of damage statistics. He was essentially riding on a smoking chunk of scrap, and it was unlikely that the repairs needed to get the engines back to working order would be completed before impact with the ground. With that knowledge, he placed his hand near the ejection seat lever beside his seat, as it was shown to be operational. He planned to wait until the last few moments prior to impact before ejecting, because every jet in the Freedom Fighters' arsenal counted. They tried very hard not to waste anything, especially an expensive fighter craft.

The repairs gradually granted him the ability to maneuver the battle-ravaged vessel, among other abilities, but it wasn't until he was a mere five-hundred feet above the ground that the repairs allowed his engines to start back up, a split second before he had planned to pull the ejection seat lever. He subsequently set a course for the base and headed back, still obscenely upset from the loss of his wife.

About a minute later, and not a minute too soon, he arrived at the base, expecting to see continued chaos. Smoke was billowing from numerous sections of the complex and other sections had been outright demolished. Bodies could be seen scattered about, as could the smoldering remains of destroyed robots. He was happy to discover, by an exhausted voice over the radio, that the remaining pilots had shot down the airbots, and the ground units had been destroyed as well. His return was warmly welcomed, and his ship landed in the hangar with a loud thud as its engines failed while it was three feet above the ground. People ran to greet him, and they helped him out of his totaled ship. However, he brushed them away and made his desire for peace known. Those who noticed that Kaolin hadn't landed yet soon came to realize why Tails' countenance was so morose.

Tails wandered into his room, locked his door and sat on his cushy bed. Aside from breathing and the occasional twitch, he was motionless. Numbness and anger permeated his mind, and he had an almost weightless, ethereal feeling. All he could think about was all of the adventures he and Kaolin had been on. When he began dwelling upon memories from their wedding day, he broke down and cried. He gripped his sheets in frustration as he heard the light tapping sound of tears hitting his legs because he thought he was taking it too hard. As well, he felt as though he had given up without even stopping to consider every possible scenario. He didn't know for an absolute, proven fact that she had died. He was only going by what the radar had shown, the static on the radio and the corresponding logic. Additionally, he didn't feel a complete disconnection from her that other people who had lost spouses claimed to have felt.

After calming himself somewhat, he thought about how she could very well still be alive. Perhaps her jet had sustained a low-speed crash, allowing her to escape before it exploded. Maybe she managed to pilot herself into an area that blocked signals, like a large metallic building. That wouldn't explain why the robot would've simply given up, though.

While he cogitated, there came a knock from his door. It was his father, Amadeus.

"Son, I heard you'd returned. May I come in?" There was a tone of happiness in his voice, but underlying concern was interwoven.

Tails stood and sauntered over to his door, unlocked it, and allowed his dad to walk past him. Amadeus immediately noticed his disconsolate countenance upon making eye contact. "What's wrong, Tails?" It was then that he noticed Kaolin's absence, and his expression grew somber.

"Kaolin...didn't return with me, dad." Tails walked back to his bed, unknowingly denying his dad's attempt at a consoling embrace. He slowly sat upon the mattress and stared at the wall with a mien mixed with sorrow and umbrage. "I saw her radar dot disappear and I only got static when I tried to contact her. Her attacker had stopped following her, too; in fact, I ended up shooting it down, almost at the cost of my own life." Tails paused briefly, then looked at his dad for a few moments. "I gave up hope for a little while. I immediately assumed she hadn't survived, basing my judgment upon what I saw on the radar, heard over the radio, and the logic that followed." He looked back at the floor. "I refuse to give up. I will search for her until she is back here safely, or if she's...found..."

Amadeus sat next to his son and cut him off. "Don't even assume for a second she didn't survive, because that is a quitter's attitude. You mustn't give that thought any room. You need to truly believe she is out there, because that belief will push you to finding her."

He watched as Tails nodded and wiped another tear from his muzzle, and he smiled and placed his arm over his son's shoulders. "Now, get up, grab some of your colleagues, and go out there and find her."

Tails nodded again, but with more confidence. "I will do that. Oh, how's mom doing?"

"She's doing just fine, though shaken. Our room wasn't breached."

"That's good. Glad to hear it."

The two stood, and as Amadeus was about to leave, he turned around to face Tails once more. "It took some skills to down two of those flying beasts. Good job."

Tails grinned and thanked him, and his father left the room while he got himself prepared for a new journey. He was very thankful for such a supportive father.

He got himself cleaned up a bit, gathered some items to put in his utility belt, then went into his closet holding a key. He knelt down, lifted a patch of carpet, and entered the key into a slot while typing a code into a small keypad. With a hiss, part of the floor opened, revealing a ladder which led into a small room beneath the floor. Tails descended into the room, which was immediately illuminated by automatic lighting, and approached a glass case with his powersuit within. He looked at an electronic status monitor and smiled when he saw the progress percentage meter with the number one-hundred flashing green. He'd programmed a small assembly apparatus to finish the suit, something he couldn't do because of the war. With a grin, he removed the suit from the case and slipped the heavy, jumpsuit-like article of cybernetic clothing onto his body. He'd learned something that day, and that was to be even more prepared than one would think to be. If his suit worked the way he'd programmed it to, it would act as advanced armor and a strength enhancer, something that might prove to be useful if he encountered anything unpleasant during his search for his lost wife.

Tails left his room after a few minutes, ready for the search, and made his way down a hallway in the hopes of gathering the other Freedom Fighters. He began to hear the sound of someone running, and when he turned around, he was met by a young brown hedgehog.

"Mr. Prower, I'm glad I found you. Sonic told me to let you know about the conditions of the other Freedom Fighters." He spoke while trying to catch his breath.

"Oh yes, please tell me. I was just on my way to see if I could get some of them to assist me."

"Yeah, that could be a problem. See, Sonic is fine. Sally is pretty battered and her hip is very badly bruised, but she'll be fine. Rotor was stabbed a few times by a mech claw but it isn't life-threatening. Amy was hiding in a washing machine, so she's okay. Bunnie...well, her cybernetic arm was torn off at the elbow, but she'll be fine. As for Antoine..." The hedgehog paused and sighed, then shifted his glance briefly. "A-Antoine lost both of his legs and part of his tail when he attempted to protect Bunnie from a mech with his sword. He'd run out of ammo, and...yeah. The mech essentially pulled the ceiling down on him. We got him stabilized, but he's in very critical condition. We don't know if he will make it."

Tails shook his head and pursed his lips. Anyone who was depraved enough to program a mech to go overkill on a person who brought a knife to a gunfight needed to tumble. "Alright, can you take me to Sonic?"

The hedgehog nodded and led Tails to the infirmary. Sonic and Sally were standing next to each other near Rotor's bed, carrying out a conversation with him. Amy was talking to Bunnie nearby, and Antoine was in a separate room for intensive care.

"Tails! Glad to see you're back! We were worried there for a while." There was true joy in his blue friend's voice. Sally and the others subsequently greeted him as well. "Where's, eh, Kaolin?"

"That's what I'm here about. I believe she crashed and her signal isn't showing. I want you and Amy to assist me in a search." Tails briefly glanced at the door leading into Antoine's room and frowned.

Sonic looked at Rotor and Bunnie, then at the others. He wondered if he should stay to watch over them or if he should go.

Sally approached her husband with a limp and placed a hand on one of his shoulders. "We'll be fine, hon. Go ahead and go." She then looked back at the golden-orange fox. "I hope she's safe, Tails. I'd go in a heartbeat, but I'm in no condition to do so."

Tails expressed his gratitude, and he and Sonic grabbed the clueless Amy and proceeded down the hall. They visited what was left of the Area Surveillance Room in the hopes of finding positioning logs in order to pinpoint Kaolin's last known location, but it had been destroyed in the heat of battle.

Upon reaching the hangar, they enlisted the help of Oryn, Jack, and a couple of other UCH operatives, all of whom readily agreed to being of service. Tails made use of a reserve VTOL aircraft, and the group took off in the direction of where Tails could best remember seeing Kaolin's defeat.

The more he thought about it, the more he noticed that he could still feel her presence in the world. It was a feeling that not only gave him even more perseverance, it brought about a sense of comfort, though that comfort was offset by another feeling—urgency.

--

Author's notes: Chapter Four is coming soon! Please review!

--

Canon Sonic characters and places © Sonic Team, Sega  
Kaolin, story, other original characters, countries and organizations, etc © NuclearCookout


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

Kaolin slowly opened her eyes as she awakened upon a cushy bed, and she took a deep breath of the cool, crisp, filtered air. A cool moist towel had been placed on her forehead and her utility belt was sitting on a small table nearby. Perplexed, she looked around her immediate vicinity without moving her head, and saw a dresser, a cabinet set, some paintings, and a few lamps. Someone had put her in a tidy bedroom.

"Look, she's awake!" The small excited voice caused Kaolin to jolt slightly.

Another small voice followed with a whisper. "Not so loud! You might scare her! Oh...too late."

Kaolin turned her head to the right, and her eyes fell upon two very young, sickeningly cute squirrels. One was a green-furred boy, and the other was a light-green-furred girl with two pink bows in her hair. Both of the children were staring at her with huge, curious eyes.

"What...what happened...where am I?" Kaolin squinted and blinked to make sure they weren't illusions in a dream. The ash-gray fox started to sit up and rubbed the back of her head, feeling the frayed ends of the hair which had been singed by the heat from the blast. She winced when a massive headache set in, and gasped in pain when she moved her legs, having agitated the bandaged stub of her lower-right leg.

The little boy's eyes widened. "No! Don't move! You have an owwie!"

"A BIIIG owwie," added the little girl.

Kaolin looked down at her leg and was immediately reminded of the brutal reality of the crash. The wound was saturated with a tingly, burning sensation. It wasn't as bad as earlier, though, which made Kaolin suspect that someone had put a numbing agent on the wound before bandaging it.

A creaking sound emanated from the doorway, and another little boy, a few years older than the other two children, walked in with more towels and some medical supplies. When the dark-green squirrel saw that their guest was awake, he looked at his siblings with an accusative eye and spoke in a scolding tone. "Mom told you not to wake her up! It's very rude."

"It was Roger's fault!"

"Nuh UH! Samantha took over my brain and made me do it!"

"I did not!"

"Yuh-huh!"

The oldest interrupted them with an insidious glint in his eye. "How 'bout I knock both of your heads together and we call it even?" The threat struck instant fear into the other two, but they quickly got right back into arguing.

As the three of them bickered, their mother walked in with a tray of food. She quickly examined the situation and softly posited an idea. "How about we all settle down and give our guest some peace?"

That shut them up immediately.

Her kind eyes fell upon the injured fox, and the dark-gray squirrel walked to Kaolin's bedside and set the food onto a wooden table, near where the utility belt was laying. "I'm sorry about that. They can be a bit rambunctious." She grabbed the towel, which had fallen from Kaolin's forehead, and tossed it back at one of her kids to be taken to the washroom. "I thought you might want some food to help with your energy. Losing a limb can take it out of you. Heard it from many patients."

"You're a doctor?" Kaolin's question came shortly before she glanced at the food tray, spotting a sandwich, pickles, potato chips, and a cup of water. It was then that she noticed the hungry pit in her stomach.

"No, just a nurse, but I've helped many people over the years, especially recently. So many soldiers have been injured in this dreadful war." A sigh and a pause followed as memories flooded her mind, showing up as a mournful facial expression. "Speaking of battles, that was quite a crash. If my kids hadn't found you sooner, you might've been in even more trouble."

The light-gray vulpine smiled. "Yes, thank you for that. Thank for everything you're doing. I can't describe how much it means to me, ma'am."

The woman's head tilted slightly at being called 'ma'am', a title she hadn't heard often. "Oh, allow me to introduce myself. My name is Liorah Avondale. These are my kids, Jason, who is ten, and the twins, Roger and Samantha, who are seven." Liorah looked back at her kids and smiled.

The expressions of the twins brightened, and they exclaimed in unison an addendum to her claim. "We'll be eight in two months!"

"Yes you will!" Their mother turned her attention back to Kaolin. "And what is your name?"

"I am Kaolin Prower, one of the Freedom Fighters. My husband is Miles Prower, widely known as Tails." Her reply came with an enthusiastic air of pride, and it caused Liorah's eyes to widen slightly.

"Ah, I've heard about you two and your heroic adventures. No wonder you seemed so familiar. I must express my utmost gratitude for your services."

Kaolin blushed unnoticeably. "Hey, it's my job..." Her voice trailed off when she remembered her husband, and her smile quickly disappeared. She figured he had most likely seen her radar dot disappear from view, and since the radio had been destroyed, he probably got static from any attempts at contact. "Oh my, Tails probably thinks I'm dead. Could you hand me my belt?"

Liorah acquiesced, but when Kaolin looked for the compartment with the auxiliary beacon, she saw only an empty space with tattered shards of fabric and strings. "Great, the beacon was torn off in the crash. I need it to send a special rescue signal."

Liorah grinned. "I'll command one of the fire droids to search for it then, since it was probably ejected in the explosion. The fires are almost extinguished, anyway." Kaolin's expression quickly brightened, and Liorah pulled a small touch screen from a pouch on her belt and began entering some commands, then sent them into one of the drones outside. "One is on its way, and once the fires are all out, I'll send the others."

"Thank you so much. The faster I get rescued, the faster I can be fitted with a prosthetic and get back to helping my teammates." She looked over her belt a bit more and blinked once, face showing disappointment. "Aw, my gun is lost, too."

"Actually, I put it away for safe keeping. Didn't want the kids to mess with it. They're not ready to handle weapons that powerful yet." Liorah glanced back at her children. Kaolin nodded and took a mental note to take special care with such things if or when she had kids. "Now then, I suggest you eat something before sending the distress signal. You might need the energy during the trip."

Kaolin grabbed half of the sandwich and took a bite, then stopped when the unexpected flavor hit. The taste was much better than she had expected it to be, and she had already expected it to be good. "Wow, this is really good. It reminds me of how...my parents made sandwiches for me when I was little." In fact, Liorah herself bore stark resemblance of her mother, something she had just noticed. She let out an extended breath as memories from her early life came rushing back, leading up to that tormenting day when her entire world was turned upside down by Robotnik's sadism.

Aware that something deep was troubling her guest, Liorah moved her hand behind her back and motioned her kids to leave the room. "If you'd like me to bring something a bit less evocative, I can do that."

Kaolin sighed. "No, this whole place is evocative. It's okay, really. It brings back comforting memories of when my parents were alive. My mother made the best sandwiches."

When Liorah saw a tear travel down Kaolin's muzzle, she looked at her guest with concern. "I know the sharp feeling of loss. A few months ago, my husband was killed in an operation against one of Shauland's carrier fleets. The attack was only partially successful; they managed to down a little over three-fourths of the enemy forces, but the remaining fleet ended up destroying the city they were targeting, including the hospital I once worked at. Now I work from home, since there are no major hospitals nearby that I know of. What was almost worse than the loss itself was having to explain to the kids why their daddy wasn't coming home. Roger still comes up to me and says that he hopes Jesus will let him come back. It's..." She paused to wipe away her own tears, and concluded, "I'm...I'm sorry. I got myself worked-up again. I'm sure you didn't need the added angst, either. I'll go and get some napkins."

Kaolin acted as though she was about to say something, but she kept silent and watched as Liorah left the room, thereby allowing her to have the place to herself for a little while. She lay there and gathered her thoughts while listening to the air softly blow in from the circulation vent in the ceiling. Having heard her story gave even more of an incentive to bring an end to the war sooner—an incentive to try even harder than they were. It gave her greater motivation and courage to fight. However, she also knew that they really were trying as hard as they could. If they tried too hard, they could become careless and suffer dearly for it.

Careless.

That word triggered thoughts of the dogfight which led to the current mess. She knew she could've done better. She knew she could've flipped a few more switches and gotten the autorepair systems to work faster, even if by a scintilla of time. Perhaps then the ejection seat would've worked. It was panic which kept her from doing everything in her power to work at her full capacity, and she paid for it with part of her leg. She knew that if it happened again, it could cost her life. Conversely, she also took into consideration that her accident may have kept her alive. If the ejection seat had deployed properly, her attacker could have swooped back in to finish the job. In that case, her leg wasn't too much to ask for.

Liorah returned a short time later with cheerful composure, as though she hadn't cried at all that day. She had brought napkins and an extra cup of water. With a smile, she seated herself upon a chair and set the items upon the closest table. "Sorry about earlier. Anyway, here are some napkins and another cup of water in case you need a refill."

Kaolin thanked her, but expressed her disagreement with the apology. "No need to apologize. A lot of us go through these things and we cry. I understand it, and can certainly handle it."

Liorah smirked. "Well, I still felt bad about it. Now, onto my next subject. How...is the war looking? Is it in our favor? Their favor?"

After swallowing another bite of her sandwich, Kaolin gave a faint smile. "Well, the battle-before-last was a spectacular display of fail for them. We bombed three bases into oblivion, shot down ninety-six fighters, downed a large carrier, and captured and interrogated its captain. We had planned on executing another attack today using his information, but they got to us first." Her smile dulled somewhat. "Overall, it's hard to tell, though I hear we are very slowly gaining the upper hand. The tables may have turned, though. I was shot down by something truly skilled...er, well-programmed. It was a robotic entity rather than organic. Our base was overrun with those things, and a base in Vasyugan was completely destroyed by them. I honestly don't know what became of ours. I don't know if any of my friends are still alive. I don't know if...my husband survived, either. I'm sure he did, though. He always seems to get out of sticky situations."

"Oh I hope so." Liorah nodded. The device on her belt began to buzz, and she jumped from the unexpected activity. "Oh! The fire is out. We can use all the droids to look for your beacon now! With their combined effort, it shouldn't take too long. They're good at finding lost items."

"Wonderful!" Kaolin looked Liorah in the eyes and thought for a moment. She had seen such a stunning display of kindness and hospitality in such a short amount of time. There was something special about her, and she and believed it to be the beginning of a very good friendship.

--

Author's notes: Chapter Five is coming soon! Thank you for reading, and please leave a review!

--

Canon Sonic characters and places © Sonic Team, Sega  
Kaolin, story, other original characters, countries and organizations, etc © NuclearCookout


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

"Almost there." Tails' message came through the radio with very slight static as he and his small makeshift squadron soared across the countryside. "The dogfight took place nearby. I recognize these landforms." His words held little emotion, opposite of what he felt in his mind—sadness, anger, anxiety, regret, among others. There was even some happiness mixed in due to the fact that he felt his wife might still be alive and the fact that he had a small crew to help him. He punched a few buttons on the command console which brought up a hologram of the immediate area. "Oh yes, we are close."

Oryn huffed. "Man, I still can't believe Shauland developed THAT kind of technology THAT fast. Their pilots were decent, though still fairly easy to shoot down, and then, out of nowhere, they sent those..._things_ after us."

"Sometimes nations have significant breakthroughs and develop them quickly." Jack grinned slightly under his helmet.

"Yeah, but not that fast, and not of that magnitude. They never had superior combat artificial intelligence. Their military robots never exhibited anything like it. There was no transition from inferior to superior. All of their air drones were pathetic until recently."

The pilots took his point into consideration. Shauland wasn't known for its ability to manufacture military-grade AI programs. The next idea was that they bought the technology from a more advanced nation, but that would've been ridiculously expensive and money wasn't something Shauland had a lot of. The nation's economy had completely collapsed after half of its cities were vaporized in atomic fire and the rest of their monetary assets were used to fuel the manufacturing of more aircraft, carriers, bullets, and related equipment and services. Either the technology was simply given to them, sold at an astounding discount, or it was something deeper.

Tails raised his eyebrows. "Perhaps they had it all along but were hiding it. Maybe they wanted us to underestimate them so we wouldn't have time to develop proper defenses or train our people well enough."

The comment made Jack pause for a moment. "Maybe, but that doesn't seem terribly logical. Why didn't they use it at the beginning of the conflict to crush us all when they had the chance? It would've made their job easier."

Tails nodded. "Good point. Though, perhaps they saw it as a game of sorts. Perhaps they wanted to see how well we would fight before finishing us off, simply to amuse them."

Jack's expression immediately switched to one of skepticism. "A game that cost them half of their civilian population and their entire economy?"

"Their leader is one of those psychos who enjoys war, that's kind of obvious. He was willing to let half of his cities go if it meant bringing us to our knees. Maybe he was taking enjoyment out of the ordeal and decided to wait on deploying a better part of his arsenal just to break our spirits when we thought we were winning. That's what Robotnik did back when he was alive and kicking."

Tails' response relieved Jack of some of his doubts about the theory, but he was still fairly skeptical. His mention of the late Doctor Robotnik gave rise to thoughts that Shauland's leader may have been in contact with him, but it was only speculation based on their possession of technology that could have been acquired via other means.

All of their radios were suddenly overcome with a crackly transmission. The voice of a panicked Human could be heard, and from the background noises, it sounded as though he was piloting an aircraft.

"Attention anyone out there, we are requesting assistance. We have come across a large Shaulandic fleet escorting cargo vessels. We have substantial evidence that at least one of them is carrying shape-shifting drones. Our attacks are being met with staunch resistance. I repeat, requesting assistance." The pilot gave his coordinates, and then the transmission cut to static.

Oryn shook his head. "Man, Tails, we gotta go help. We have the skills needed to deal a beating. I know how much you love Kaolin and want to ensure her safety, but we..." His voice trailed off and ended in a cough.

A sickening feeling of lurid anxiety transfixed Tails' abdomen. They were running out of time if Kaolin did survive the crash, but they were also running out of time for a potentially worthwhile attack. Their craft had a lot of fuel and were loaded with ammunition, missiles and bombs. Tails absolutely hated having to make a choice between his wife and many lives, but the answer was clear. It was an answer Kaolin would've advocated as well. "Let's go." He then quickly saved a note of the area into his computer.

They rolled their ships portside and turned to the left to head due north, then increased their speed subsequently. The location was about thirty miles away, so it would only take a little over two minutes to arrive.

When they were fourty-five seconds into the journey, Amy broke the silence. "Y'know, I really wish Knuckles hadn't left because of that stupid dispute with Sonic. We could use his help right now."

"I must agree due to his skills at piloting, but I must also disagree. He and Julie-Su had become the source of a considerable amount of drama in our group, so it was for the best." Tails responded with a stern, almost snappy tone. Having been reminded of numerous unpleasant arguments with the echidnas didn't lead to pleasant feelings. "It's odd that you'd mention this just now, Amy. He's been gone for well over a year."

Amy shrugged. "I dunno. It just came to mind."

Sonic gave a dry chuckle. "Guy cramped my style, too."

Their consoles began to beep a little over a minute later, signifying a proximity warning. Over the horizon, they could see numerous large warships; mostly Shaulandic, but some belonged to another faction they were unfamiliar with. Puffs of smoke from exploded flak rounds stippled the air around the battle, and ribbons of luminous bullets danced amongst the quarreling vessels.

"Alright guys, this is it. Weapons ready. Systems ready. Minds ready." Tails heard a series of acknowledgements over his radio shortly thereafter. He then sent a signal directed to the leader of the attacking faction and notified them of their friendly status, who in turn sent a notice to all of his pilots to avoid engaging them.

One of the faction's warships was being swarmed by enemy aircraft while at the same time focusing its firepower on a Shaulandic destroyer. The large metal rounds hammered its starboard hull relentlessly, and the destoyer began to lose altitude as its armor was torn open and its innards ripped asunder. In a bright flash, it blew into two pieces which quickly fell and broke apart upon contact with the ground, resulting in more explosions and many starbursts of flaming debris. The victorious warship then focused its attention on the cloud of fighters orbiting it, using multiple-projectile rounds from its cannons and making them act as giant shotguns. The fighters had already done a considerable amount of damage, and smoke was billowing from various holes.

Tails grinned, then nudged his throttle back and slowed to a more maneuverable speed. "Our first objective is to get those fighters off that warship. From the looks of things, its hull integrity is beginning to get low."

The warship somewhat resembled an ancient San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock, but it was sleeker and sported far more armaments, such as five fourty-eight millimeter anti-aircraft flak cannons mounted on either side, three eighty-two millimeter railguns mounted on the bow deck, one twin-rigged chaingun set between the two sensory masts on the top, and four missile launchers resembling RIM-116 RAM clusters on the port and starboard sides of the bow and stern decks. It was also longer, stretching seven-hundred feet in length. On either side of the bow was the name _Avenger of Station Square_.

The seven Freedom Fighter and UCH pilots brought their ships onto their port wings and swung in toward the bow of the belabored _Avenger_. Oryn set his targeting crosshairs upon one of the enemy fighters and sent dozens of bullets ahead of its path. The unsuspecting pilot flew into their trajectory, and the bullets hammered his main engine and one of his wings like hailstones on a thin metal roof. He went into an uncontrolled spiral and slammed into a hill where his ship mushroomed-out against a rocky outcropping and exploded.

When more of their comrades were shot down moments later, the other enemy fighters suddenly broke from their attack on their large quarry and went into furious defensive mode.

Tails was already seeking his third victim at that point. He flew up and over the top of the large warship and spotted another ship flying perpendicular to his path. He immediately tightened his finger around the trigger and caught the front of the Shaulandic craft with a quick spray of bullets. The rounds penetrated the windshield and hit its pilot, killing him instantly and allowing the ship to careen unguided and explode against the ground. He snap-rolled to port and swung around the aft of the _Avenger_, careful to keep his distance to avoid possible external heat damage from the energetic engine wash. He was fairly surprised at how easy it was to handle the quick turns, dives and spins. His cybernetic suit was performing well at helping him endure the rapidly-changing G-forces.

Amy flew through the still-glowing cloud of billowing smoke left from her exploded target while wearing a big grin on her face. One of her alarms began to sound as another fighter began to tail her, and she jerked back on the stick and rolled while in a sharp ascent. She pulled back further a moment later and flew upside down, rolling to level out shortly thereafter as a small volley of bullets whizzed by. Her enemy was still hot on her trail, so she snapped the throttle back and dove sharply, narrowly missing another Shaulandic pilot who nearly soiled himself when he'd realized what had happened. His brief loss of focus led him to collide with one of his fellow pilots, resulting in a fiery demise for both of them. Amy's pursuer clung to her path like a tick, firing madly at the pink hedgehog while wondering where those aces came from. She dipped below the belly of the large warship and arrowed past it, then chopped the stick back, flew up and spun her ship around one-hundred-eighty degrees on its yaw axis to face in reverse. By the time the pilot flew out from under the _Avenger_, he barely had time to blink before his ship was ripped apart after she fired into his flight path, and the flaming pieces managed to damage another enemy ship as it passed by. Her grin increased. She may have been a total ditz, but she knew how to fly.

It didn't take long for the seven of them to clear out the thirty or so fighters attacking the _Avenger_, which began to fly in reverse to distance itself from the larger Shaulandic ships for repairs, but continued to fire its main cannons and missiles at them. They were surprised at how inexperienced most of the enemy pilots were and wondered if they were simply new recruits who hadn't seen much action. If that was the case, then it was possible that Shauland was running out of pilots, at least for that region.

They spread out and started attacking the larger craft with the brunt of their arsenals. The UCH portion of the team focused on a trio of destroyers, while the Freedom Fighter portion hammered a battleship with assistance from a smaller counterpart of the _Avenger_. They flew so erratically that the remaining Shaulandic pilots had an extremely difficult time following them, much less hitting them, as did the anti-air defenses on the larger ships.

The UCH pilots darted in on their first target, and a flurry of well-placed missiles upon the engines of the destroyer sent it to its explosive doom. The other destroyers, having realized that they were up against truly skilled pilots, decided against further conflict and turned tail to escape. This decision did not keep them from being destroyed, as the fighters continued their relentless assault, taking both down successively.

Oryn laughed heartily in his helmet. "Wow, they didn't even put up much of a fight. Our next target is that battleship." His laugh weakened as he got a strange, uneasy feeling, as though it was too easy. "Be cautious, though. Something tells me that we might be in for a surprise."

Jack nodded slightly. "Yeah, that was a bit easy."

The three Freedom Fighters circled the battleship like sharks circling an unfortunate surfer, bobbing up and down to further aggravate the battleship's attempts at shooting them down. Occasionally, one would jerk their craft around ninety-degrees and fire a few missiles at some vital area of the ship, then snap back to their original mode of flight and continue circling. Fires began to rage uncontrollably on various decks, and escape pods eventually started to exit the embattled vessel.

The cargo freighters began to pitch upward and increase speed as the pilots figured that the battle was lost, and the remainder of the enemy fighters and gunboats hastily abandoned the area.

"Time to capture another captain," Tails exclaimed with a tone of excitement. "Oryn, if you would, I want you and your men to track down the captain's escape pod. We will be taking down those transport vessels."

"Aye, Tails."

Tails, Sonic and Amy broke from their attack formation as the battleship, alight in a conflagration, rolled to one side when its starboard bow gravity repulsors exploded. The remaining repulsors overloaded, causing the port stern to suddenly rush upwards. It sped into the ground once upside down, and the entire vessel erupted in a series of large blasts, sending glowing chunks of metal sailing every which direction. Oryn and his team followed an escape pod that they had determined belonged to the captain.

Sonic and Amy began attacking the freighter that was higher, and Tails soloed the second. Missiles screamed from their housings and plowed into the hulls, ripping open huge gashes and wreaking havoc on the contents within.

A moment after Tails dealt the killing blow to his prey, his helmet almost flew off of his head when he got a stark warning from Oryn.

"WAIT TAILS, STOP! IT ISN'T A MILITARY SHIPMENT! IT'S A TRICK!"

The freighter exploded subsequently, and the other followed suit.

Tails' eyes grew wide. "What? What was it? What did I just blow up? What did we just blow up?"

"Those were civilians! It was a shipload of civilians!"

The two-tailed fox's blood went cold. "Wh-...what? H-..."

"I just got a transmission from the escape pod I captured, which actually contains the captain and one of his higher-ups. He said he would enjoy seeing the look on your face once you found out what was inside. Lots of soft targets."

They surveyed the damage done, and to their horror, saw the dozens of charred bodies that littered the area around the destroyed freighters; men, as well as women and children.

Sonic was slowly shaking his head while repeatedly muttering "no", and Amy was weeping uncontrollably. For a few moments, there were no thought processes running through Tails' mind. His face was imbued with shock, and he couldn't utter a word. The knowledge that he had killed possibly a hundred civilians, coupled with the uncertainty of his wife's survival, tattooed a streak of bitterness upon his heart. Silently, he was angrier than he had ever been in his entire life.

Oryn's voice came in over the radio again, this time with a tone of concern. "Tails?"

"Let's get back to the base." Tails' reply was broken slightly. "I want to give our new friends a special welcome."

--

Author's notes: Chapter Five is coming soon! Thank you for reading, and please leave a review!

--

Canon Sonic characters and places © Sonic Team, Sega  
Kaolin, story, other original characters, countries and organizations, etc © NuclearCookout


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

Kaolin smiled as Liorah walked into the room holding a plate with another sandwich. She was almost concerned that her enjoyment of those sandwiches would turn into an addiction. Once the plate was set on the table, Kaolin sat up slightly and kept herself propped up with her right elbow, then reached over and grabbed her edible target.

Liorah grinned. "Not even my kids enjoy these sandwiches this much."

"That's odd," Kaolin replied with a mouthful. "These are great." She took a few more bites before noticing that her headache had reduced to nothing more than a light twinge in the back of her head. After setting her sandwich down, she ran her hand through the hair over the afflicted area, eyebrows raised in surprise.

The squirrel tilted her head ever so slightly to the side and back, smiling. "It's good to see you're feeling better."

A smirk gradually appeared on Kaolin's face, and the tip of one of her tails flicked gently. "Yeah, my headache's gone. Leg still hurts, though, but I have a feeling it's going to hurt for a good while." She wiggled her left foot while trying to wiggle her nonexistent right foot, which led to more pain and a grimace as the severed muscles contracted to control something that was no longer there. It was very awkward not being able to feel that foot anymore.

"Just keep it still and it'll heal faster," commented Liorah with an amused and somewhat chiding tone. A pause followed while she studied her guest. There was something about her - a feeling of peace. She'd been wary about bringing in a total stranger, just as always, but being around Kaolin gave her the feeling that she didn't need to be on her guard. "So, tell me more about yourself than simply being a part of the Freedom Fighters or being Miles' spouse...if you don't mind me asking."

Kaolin took another bite of her sandwich while thoughtfully gazing upon a painting on a wall. "Well, there isn't that much to know about me. I'm nineteen years old. I love Tails. I like flying. I enjoy waffles." Another bite followed.

Liorah laughed. "Come now, there's got to be more to you than that. Perhaps you could explain how you got into the world-renowned Freedom Fighters?"

The fox nodded and finished her sandwich, then brushed the crumbs from her face. "It all started when I was fourteen. I was flying through a forest after stealing an info-disk from Robotnik. He'd sent a drone after me, so I was flying very quickly and almost recklessly, terrified for my life. Then I collided with something and fell to the ground. That something was Tails, who happened to be browsing the area for wild chives. I was a hot-headed little rascal, so I chided him rather harshly. Moments later, the drone caught up, so Tails took cover behind a boulder and dragged me with him. He ended up destroying the robot, and I was...impressed, but too embarrassed to say it. He took me to have the disk analyzed at the Freedom Fighters headquarters, and after displaying my immaturity again, I left and sat on a tree. Couldn't get Tails out of my mind. So, for the next few days, I hovered above him wherever he went. Observing him. Studying him. A cunning stalker I was, until he saw me. I was confronted, and expressed my desire to join his team - though it was really more for him than anything. So yeah, two little stories in one. Joined the Freedom Fighters and met my future hubby." Kaolin giggled.

"That is so sweet!" exclaimed Liorah with wide, curious eyes. "What happened after that?"

Kaolin looked down and sighed. "Well, here's where a darker part of my history comes in. A week later, there was a bank robbery. Some psychotic freak named Bean had held up a bank with a dirty bomb and taken hostages. The team and I went in and saved them, and Bean was hauled off to a mental institution, but he escaped shortly thereafter."

"Oh, I've heard about this. Then there was the gas attack on the mall."

The light-gray fox nodded again. "Yes, that was his revenge. We went to inspect the area, and he had anticipated our arrival. He ambushed us with a disorienting vapor and...kidnapped me." She sighed once more. "He took me to his lair and tortured me until they found me - well, until Tails found me. He was the only one allowed in the building. By the time he got to my room, I had lost a lot of blood, so I couldn't do much when he fought Bean. We made it to the roof, but I was too weak to fly, and one of his tails was injured. He fought Bean again after he followed us, and that madman met his end. It took me a while to get over that ordeal."

Liorah nodded sympathetically. "I can imagine." She saw her guest's disheartened expression and clasped her hands together, tilting her head again a second later. "I hope I'm not being too nosey."

"No, not at all. I'm fine with talking about it now. It had a happy ending, and that's what counts. It got better from there out, obviously. We started dating a week after that." She looked at the ceiling and smiled with a whimsical sigh. "I remember our first date. It was at a Mercian food restaurant in New Knothole. The sky was clear, and the temperature...could've been warmer—a cold front had blown through, but it didn't matter. I ordered a plate of trout with potatoes and breadsticks, and Tails got the shrimp pasta. We talked and talked and talked, and almost had to force ourselves to eat so the food wouldn't get cold. Once we were finished, we split a large ice cream...thingy. I forget the name. It was good, though. That night, I was bouncing off the walls from the colossal sugar rush and ended up breaking a few things in my quarters. I passed out at around four in the morning."

Both of them were laughing at that point, and Liorah broke in. "That's almost worse than when Roger has sugar!"

Kaolin brushed some of her long hair from her face and continued once she had regained her composure. "Yeah, we've had many good times. He always loved—and still loves—to take me for ice cream and other things, which...kinda explains why my hips look the way they do. I don't hold it against him, though."

Liorah separated her hands and crossed her forearms over her lap. "It's good that you don't. I personally don't think it makes you look bad."

The fox smiled. "Well thank you. Tails hasn't complained. Every chance he gets, he complements me on my looks. Tells me I'm the most beautiful thing he's ever laid eyes on. Sometimes I think he's exaggerating, but...uh..."

Liorah cut in as Kaolin's voice trailed off. "But? You don't see yourself as beautiful?"

"It's...not really that. Well, like..." Her voice trailed off again as she contemplated what to say. She did have some self-esteem issues, not so much from her weight—though it did contribute—but from her various battle scars. The places where Bean had cut her left little, almost unnoticeable streaks where the fur appeared shorter, and that made her overall coat look uneven here and there. In addition, there were other places where injuries had diminished her appearance. "I'm just battle-worn, I guess. I've been through a lot, and that isn't really a beauty treatment." She also thought about what Tails might think of her latest injury.

The dark-gray squirrel frowned and locked her large, deep, verdant eyes onto her guest's, facial expression denoting tender concern. Her shoulders slackened somewhat, and she clasped her hands on her knees again. "You don't have to see yourself as less than beautiful, especially when your husband sees you as stunning. You don't need to let whatever the media or some group says about beauty get you down, because beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Tails sees you as an object of true beauty, and I think you should take his kind words more seriously."

The words sank into Kaolin's mind like a lead weight. She had made a very good point. "You're right. I really should. Th-..."—A brief pause came—"Thank you. That really helped."

Liorah's cheerful smile returned. "Always glad to shine a light where it's needed." She jumped when her datapad on her belt buzzed again and moved her hand to grab it. "Oh, it appears one of the droids has found your auxiliary beacon. It's bringing it to the house now."

Kaolin's eyes brightened. She knew that once she pressed the button, it would only be a matter of time before she would be picked up, and then she'd get to see her loving husband again.

--

Author's notes: It was mentioned that it is typically inadvisable to exclude the canon cast from part of the story, but I simply could not find a place for them in this chapter, much like Chapter Four. Stick around for Chapter Seven, coming soon! Please review!

--  
Canon Sonic characters and places © Sonic Team, Sega  
Kaolin, story, other original characters, countries and organizations, etc © NuclearCookout


	7. Chapter 7

Note: This chapter is very gritty. Read with caution if rough interrogation scenes bother you.

Chapter Seven

The sound of Tails' boots echoed throughout the hallway leading to the detention area as he angrily made his way to one of the cells, carrying a small silver box by its handle with his left hand. A bitter scowl was present on his face, and his eyes were saturated with piquant disgust. The fact that he and his friends had been tricked into taking hundreds of innocent lives was more than he could bear, and he was going to make sure the Freedom Fighters' two new captives realized their mistake in doing so. As well, he was annoyed that the incident had served as a delay in the search for his wife, but he knew it was his responsibility as a Freedom Fighter to see to it that the mess was cleaned up as quickly as possible. Every second that passed was a second lost in gathering life-saving intel from the captives, not only to derail any possible enemy operations, but also because they might very well have had assassins following them with the intent of keeping them from talking.

The group had a small team of people who normally carried out interrogations, but Tails was set on doing it himself because he had been thrust into the dead-center of the most recent fiasco, and because these were people who had a hand in the recent upsurge of shapeshifting killdrones. He had looked over their files before making his way to the holding section and found that the person who had accompanied the captain was responsible for some, if not all of the killdrones' manufacturing and logistics. That meant there was a ton of valuable information to be extracted, and if there happened to be a password for a possible database containing the activities of each unit, he might very well find out where Kaolin was downed. The thought brought an ephemeral smile to his otherwise sour countenance, almost nonexistent.

Tails approached a code-protected door at the end of the hallway and punched a few numbers into the keypad, then swiped a keycard. A small light switched from red to green, and the door slid open with a sound resembling a brush being moved across a polished concrete floor. A flood of cool air moved past his legs as he entered the wanly-lit observation room, though his suit prevented him from feeling it. The fox barely nodded to the two guards present, then shifted his glance to one of the five doors. "Is this the room with the captain?"

One of the guards, a fairly short raccoon with a stocky build, responded while grabbing a keycard from his pocket. "Yes sir, it is. Let me get that for you." He was unaware that Tails had the ability to open the door on his own, and unlocked it before the fox had a chance to protest.

"Is there a camera linked to a television in the other captive's room?"

"Yes there is."

"Good." Tails wanted the second prisoner to witness what would happen to him if he failed to divulge his knowledge when it was requested.

The guard opened the heavy door and allowed Tails to enter the room. The Shaulandic captain, a rough-looking individual who appeared to be a cross between a wolf and a coyote, was sitting motionlessly at a metal table with a stolid expression, hands cuffed behind his back to the chair. He gave a mocking smile when he saw Tails come in. "Well hello there! Are you here to make me pay for that amusing incident just a short whil-..."

His words were cut short when a gloved fist plowed into his face, the blow intensified by the cybernetic suit the fox was still wearing. One of his teeth was ejected and sent sailing into a corner.

"My world. My rules. Do not speak until spoken to." The words barked by Tails were ascerbic to the core. He clenched the fist that had been used to smack the captain and winced ever so slightly. Again, he was pleased by the performance of the suit, but disappointed that he didn't make cybernetic gloves to ease the pain that was still allowed to be transmitted through standard gloves. He took a few steps in reverse and clasped his hands behind his back, keeping a steely gaze fixed onto his subject. "Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Miles Prower, as I'm sure you are aware of, Captain Dunasto Brewington. You will tell me what I desire to know. Failure to acquiesce will result in wrath. Understood? Oh and please, don't be embarrassed to call me 'sir.'"

Dunasto spat some blood on the floor while facing away from Tails, then slowly looked up at him with a truly irritated mien. "Do you honestly think I haven't prepared for an event such as this? I've been through more training than your files probably show."

Tails smirked. "We'll see about that. Now then, what was the point of tricking us into attacking those freighters?"

"Isn't it obvious? I'm making a documentary on the stupidity of you people. I will make MILLIONS once I sell it to a..."

Tails smacked him again, this time much harder and leaving his nose bloody. "How about a straight answer? You also forgot 'sir.'"

The captain huffed as he dealt with the stark pain. "You know, I met one of the families aboard the freighter you shot down. There were three young children. So cute. So innocent. One had a pink teddy bear."

That response caused a fire to ignite within Tails' eyes. Instead of punching him again, he opened the box he'd brought and removed a different glove. It was jet black, save for a network of coppery wires and dots lining the pads of the fingers, thumb and palm, as well as the knuckles. There was also a slight rise on the back with a knob—a compartment for electronics and power storage. He took off his right glove and slipped on the other in its place, then held his hand out and brought his fingers in toward each other. Bright blue filaments of energy arced between them, emitting popping and zapping sounds.

The captain's expression remained unchanged until Tails touched him on his shoulder, resulting in a loud 'pop' and a shriek. "Silence bad. Sarcasm bad. Straight answer good."

"Is that it? Do it again."

Tails raised his eyebrows, shrugged, and turned the knob to double the power output. He firmly pinched the captain's shoulder that time, and the wolf-coyote hybrid jolted and clenched his teeth as the electricity danced through his nerves, but remained utterly defiant. "Why is it so hard for you to answer that simple question?"

"To humor you, my leader wanted a laugh. Happy?" The reply came amidst heavy breathing and mild shivering.

The fox nodded and turned the dial up again. He figured he was telling the truth because of the Shaulandic leader's brutality, and it fit his beliefs about the man. It was a fairly vague response, but he determined that more would be revealed once his next question was answered. "Now then, I will need the access codes which were bequeathed upon you, just as they are to each captain. I will need each and every one, and not one less. I will know which ones you are holding back, should you do so."

He laughed aloud. "THAT I cannot do. I'll be taking those to my grave."

"Oh? What if I won't allow that to happen?" Tails slid the table away, leading to a cacophony of metallic squeaks and screeches from the worn legs, then began to slowly pace around the chair. "What if I choose to keep you here alive? Believe me, we have methods that will make you plead for death." He knew how sadistic and unsavory that sounded, but it got accurate results out of all but the hardest of subjects. He slowly moved closer, each step heavy to make an intimidating echo. "We can do things that will make living through this undesirable. Take this glove for instance. If I keep it on you long enough, you will suffer permanent nerve damage. You will be unable to do anything you used to be able to do, and you will rot in one of our prisons for the remainder of your days. You will be alone. You will be sheltered from all sounds and probably light, too. You will learn new meaning to boredom and isolation. Each day will feel like a week, and each month as a year."

Dunasto smirked. "Again, I have prepared to sacrifice all for my country. For the record, that little bug zapper may cause initial pain, but I quickly get used to it. The shaking and labored breathing you see is only nervous response, not pain."

Tails knew he was lying. He could tell the guy was enduring a considerable amount of pain during the shock session, and that was only from a pinch. The fox sighed and placed his entire hand on one of the captain's knees and grasped it tightly after turning the dial to a much higher setting. It took a good twenty seconds of continuous shock before the so-called hardened soldier began screaming at the tops of his lungs. Tails lifted his hand, revealing a charred, smoking spot on the individual's pants, and the smell of burnt fibers and scorched fur permeated the room. Coding whispered from a strained, cracked voice fell upon his ears as well as the recording devices he was wearing, thus allowing the information to be transmitted to the base's computers.

In the other room sat the second Shaulandic official in front of the television monitor, silently awestruck that his superior had cracked so easily. A cold shiver ran down his spine when he imagined the treatment being used on him next, but he knew he had to keep his side of the information under wraps, and he was intent on being a solid rock of reticence, no matter what the penalty.

Tails removed his glove and placed it inside the silver box, then made his way out the door after pressing the necessary keys and swiping the keycard. The two guards tried in vain not to look at him as he serenely ambled to the next holding room. The vulpine wasn't entirely calm; within his mind, he was fairly disturbed that he had conveyed an interrogation - and a rough one at that - without even batting an eye. He had done two or three in the past, but those were more along the lines of intimidation and minor pain amplified by psychological stimulation rather than outright torture, and he even had some trouble with that. It was because he had been tricked into killing hundreds of innocents that he went along with it. In his eyes, it was a personal issue that he felt was his responsibility to attend to.

He repeated the entry procedure on the second door and advanced forth. His next subject, a slender badger of medium height named Alexander Barnard, was reluctant in making eye contact. Tails shut the door and strolled to the table, then set the box down and looked at the individual. "I take it you saw what happened, yes?" The question was conveyed with a dangerously cool tone.

Alexander made nary a peep and kept his eyes fixed on a wall.

Tails began pacing again and rubbed his temples. He seriously wanted it to be over with as soon as possible so he could feed his burning desire to search for Kaolin. "I'm not in the mood for this, so I'll get to the point quickly. That convoy was purported to be a shipment of shapeshifting killdrones, but instead it was a load of civilians."—The last word was broken—"Where are the drones?"

The captive held his silence without flinching.

Annoyed, Tails walked to the table with a more hurried pace, opened the silver box and slipped the shock glove back on. It would have made more sense to have left it on from the previous interrogation, but he knew that merely opening the box caused some prisoners to think twice. He allowed the electricity to arc between his fingers again and assumed a far more stern countenance. "SPEAK!" The shouted word came a second before the scowling fox plowed a charged fist into the defiant prisoner's abdomen, the force of which caused the chair to briefly leave the floor. A spray of saliva shot from the badger's mouth, and his stunned expression denoted lament for refusing to cooperate. This was because Tails had failed to remember that he was even wearing his power suit—memory clouded by anger—and the blow came very close to damaging one of Alexander's organs.

"THEY...ARE A HUNDRED AND FOURTY-FIVE MILES EAST OF FORT DALLAS..."—His blurted sentence tapered off to a calmer, strained whisper—"hidden in a facility." He then gave the coordinates while breathing heavily and coughing. The pain was almost too much for him to handle.

"Howzabout the access codes to their systems?"

Alexander stopped briefly to catch his breath and rattled off the codes, then coughed a few more times before continuing. "They will probably change them soon."

Tails leaned into his subject's face and looked him square in the eyes. "Are there visual records of every battle that each of them has gone through?"

"Yes."

_Eureka._ "Are you aware that one of your drones had shot down my wife?"

"Yes."

_Double eureka._ "Where was she shot down?"

"I...I don't remember the exact location because I don't typically pay enough attention to dogfights to recall exact numbers, but they will be in the databanks."

Silently ecstatic, Tails quickly removed the glove, stuffed it into the silver box and made his way out of the room apace. On his way through the observation room, he looked at the guards and cursorily suggested medical treatment be brought to their captives, to which they nodded. He then sped through the doorway and down the hall, mind buzzing with activity and anticipation. His next destination was the main computer terminal in the command room, which would not only allow him access to the killdrones' flight history databanks more efficiently, but would record the information every step of the way.

When he rounded a corner, he had a head-on collision with another individual. Tails immediately offered his apologies, but did a double-take when he saw that it was Sally's brother, Elias Acorn.

"Elias? What are you doing here? I thought you were leading forces near New Lubbock." The fox tried to suppress his surprise. "Also, it's good to see you again."

The brown squirrel lightly dusted the front of his blue shirt. "Likewise, Miles." He then paused briefly to position himself at a more comfortable stance. "Well, we hit a lull in attacks, so I decided to pay you guys a visit. The recent attack on this place got me worried, and I was disheartened to hear my sister had been injured. I've already been to the infirmary to see her. I must also express my sympathies to Bunny, Rotor, and especially Antoine."

Tails nodded. "Yes, we got hit hard, but we ended up capturing some high-value targets. I just got through, eh, interrogating them."

Elias raised his eyebrows in mild astonishment. "I was unaware you did that sort of thing."

"It...it was a personal issue. See, Sonic, Amy and I were tricked into..." He looked away and angrily pursed his lips and clenched his fists. "We were tricked into attacking civilians. This came right after I began a search for my wife, who was shot down about an hour ago." There was obvious irritation in his words.

"Oh dear, is...is Kaolin..."

"I think there's a chance she's still alive, and with the info I just got from one of the clowns I interrogated, I'll find out soon."

Elias' eyes widened, and he hurriedly stepped out of Tails' path. "Oh! Don't let me hold you up, then. In fact, I'll assist you, if you'd like."

A smile appeared on the fox's face. "Thank you, it would be appreciated."

Not two seconds passed before a device in Tails' belt began to buzz and chirp loudly. His heartrate spiked, and his eyes practically expanded to the size of dinner plates. It was Kaolin's personal emergency signal.

"What...what is that?" Elias' facial expression denoted slight panic.

"We need to move FAST. That's Kaolin's signal. She's alive."

The two sprinted down the hallway to gather Amy and Sonic. Time was running out, because if they heard the signal, it was possible, though unlikely, that the enemy forces' signal monitors did, too.

--

Author's notes: Thank you for reading, and stick around for Chapter Eight, coming soon! Please review!

--  
Canon Sonic characters and places © Sonic Team, Sega  
Kaolin, story, other original characters, countries and organizations, etc © NuclearCookout


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight

_ETA, three minutes._ The thought repeated itself in Tails' head almost a minute after he said it over the radio. _ETA, three minutes._ The anticipation that had accumulated in his stomach was almost nauseatingly powerful. He wanted to see his wife so badly that he could hardly stand it. "ETA, two minutes. Be ready for anything." A series of acknowledgements followed his update, four in total. The light on the command console's main screen representing the beacon's position began to flash more brightly as they came closer, and he squirmed uneasily in his seat.

The aircraft flew in close proximity to one another in a 'V' pattern with Tails on the leading corner. There were five individuals in the group that time, rather than seven. Along with the three Freedom Fighters and Elias, there was Oryn's younger brother, a dark-blue fox by the name of Aaron. They had planned for the others to accompany them, but Jack had been injured in the previous battle, and Oryn and the other two UCH operatives had gotten wrapped-up in a meeting. NICOLE was also desired, but the artificially-intelligent computer was assisting in data assessment from the information Tails had wrung out of his subjects.

_ETA, two minutes._ White, fluffy clouds blurred past Tails' peripheral vision as he examined a holographic layout of their target area. A small model of the house was brought into focus, as was the destroyed barn. His anticipation grew further. "I got a layout of where she went down. This is definitely it. Her signal is coming from within a house."

Sonic smiled upon hearing the news. "We finally get to bring her home."

Not five seconds after Sonic spoke did their warning alarms begin to blare. Tails' eyes shot to the radar and saw six red dots, colored so because they had launched tracking missiles in the group's direction. The missiles themselves were represented by flashing red dots speeding ahead of the others. "We have missiles! Evasive maneuvers!"

The five pilots scattered as the missiles darted in, barely dodging each of them. Tails snapped the stick to starboard, increased the throttle and dove sharply below the cloud layer as one of the missiles came within three feet of his port wing. He glanced at the radar and saw five of the six dots moving into the team's immediate vicinity, with the last one heading for Kaolin's position. _Great, distract-and-infiltrate._ "We need to lose these guys fast. One is closing in on Kaolin."

One of the enemy fighters executed a nosedive and narrowly missed Tails' port horizontal stabilizer. The pilot held his descent for a few seconds before he swung back up and fired a volley of bullets at Tails' underside. The fox stomped the left rudder pedal and brought his ship onto its port wing, then snapped back on the stick and arrowed into the sky in a corkscrew, all the while watching the glowing bullets whiz by. He then leveled-out into the cloud layer and wove an erratic path through the obscuring vapors. Once he had determined that he'd lost his pursuer, he chopped back on the stick again and soared into the wide blue expanse of the sky, looped back around and angled back toward the clouds, then decreased the throttle slightly and scanned the area for the pilot.

The hapless guy was still scouring the clouds for an absent target, and Tails quickly got a lock on him.

"You like missiles? I can play that game." His mumbled words came right before his thumb pressed down on a special red button, triggering the launch of a tracking missile. The small shaft of rocket fuel and explosives promptly exited its housing and shot toward its target like a shark to a dumb fish. It caught the aircraft's starboard engine near the intake and blew out a large chunk of metal, leading to an explosion which cleaved-off the starboard wing and sent the flaming wreck into a uncontrolled tumble. The panicking pilot ejected, but did so with very poor timing as the aft of his jet swatted him like a fly. The luminous explosion resulting from the jet's collision with the ground eluded Tails' notice as he snap-rolled to starboard and jerked his craft into the direction of the farm, increasing the throttle sharply. He didn't even think to notify the others, as his mind was fixated on saving his wife.

The others shot down their targets a few moments later, save for Aaron who was somewhat less experienced in dogfighting. Sonic was the first to notice Tails making a bee-line for the farm, and the blue hedgehog's voice filled the comm channel with the alert. The team increased their speed to catch up to him, and Aaron followed after he had reduced his victim to a black streak in the sky.

Tails soon got a visual on the house and saw a small Shaulandic transport craft parked about fifteen feet from the white brick structure. A small squad was sprinting toward one of the doors, and Tails scowled and tightened his grip on the firing trigger once he got them in his crosshairs. A stream of bullets emanated from his cannons and peppered the ground leading up to one of the soldiers, who began shooting in futility at the fox a moment before he was torn into three pieces by the sheer force behind the large rounds. Those who were considering going around the other side to reach the front door immediately reconsidered and decided to stick with the back. Tails chopped back on the throttle and stomped the left rudder pedal to rotate his ship almost ninety degrees to port, then tilted slightly to starboard and activated his vertical thrusters. Facing the house, he swung around to the back and fired a few more shots at the last soldier before they entered through a doorway that had apparently been blown open. The sight made Tails' blood run cold.

He quickly set his craft down in a grove of trees and leapt through the opening canopy, assault rifle in hand. His tails spun like a turboprop and launched him to the door, where he promptly touched down, rolled and stopped at the broken entrance. He managed to catch a glimpse of one of the soldier's boots as it entered one of the rooms lining a hallway, so he took a deep breath, firmly grasped his gun and slipped inside. _I hope I'm not too late._

It was unlikely they had expected him to get there that fast, so he used that minor element of surprise as a slight advantage. He shifted his weight forward and dove into the room, where he saw a soldier hastily searching behind some furniture, apparently looking for Kaolin. A quick silenced bullet to the forehead took the surprised individual's life and left a small red starburst on the wall.

Tails righted himself and took up a position next to the doorway, then held his gun out into the hall and used the sight as a camera to transmit a live feed to his helmet's heads-up-display. When he saw nary a soul, he darted out and hit the next room. There were two people inside; one was searching a closet, and one was guarding the entrance. The one guarding immediately fired upon the intruder and hit him a few times in the abdomen, but the cybernetic suit stopped the bullets with ease and allowed them to scatter across the floor. This briefly frightened Tails, who was avoiding the bullets in case his suit didn't work in that regard, but the outcome boosted his confidence significantly. The two-tailed fox sent three bullets into the soldier's leg, pelvis and chest. A final bullet penetrated his jugular vein, and he collapsed to the floor while holding his neck and bled to death soon after.

The commotion caught the attention of the other soldier, who silently crouched in hiding and unsheathed a knife. He knew it would be foolish to rush out of a small area where a gun was probably waiting.

With his weapon aimed, Tails strolled to the closet apace and rapidly scanned for anyone present. The soldier rushed him and knocked the gun from his hands, then slashed him in the abdomen in a failed attempt to gut him on the spot. This action earned him a fist to the face, a grab to the throat and vest, and a toss into an exterior wall—the force of which rattled the house. He was lodged in the sheetrock upside-down and drew his last breath as his own knife was plunged into his heart. Tails looked at him coldly and wasted no time in retrieving his gun and speeding to the next room.

Meanwhile, the remainder of Tails' team arrived at the area, one by one. Upon seeing the Shaulandic transport and Tails' fighter on the ground, they knew the battle had been taken inside the house and quickly sought an area to land.

Sonic frowned and spoke into his helmet's radio. "Since the back door seems to be taken, we need to land near the front and keep whoever might be fighting Tails from leaving."

Amy was the first to touch down. As the canopy slid open, a light gust of wind caused her long hair to flail gently. The red hairband that everyone had become so used to seeing was missing, having been removed months prior to accommodate a more professional look. Additionally, she sported a red jumpsuit rather than her ordinary red dress, complementing her slender figure. The pink hedgehog hopped out with her gun slung on her shoulder and stood in place briefly to watch the others follow suit. She then quickly unslung the weapon and prepared it for combat, checking the receiver and turning the safety off.

The others had landed a short distance away near another grove of trees. Sonic jumped from his craft with a small submachine gun in his right hand, and his expression was imbued with both concern and determination. He immediately waved for the others to accompany him. "Alright, I want Elias with me; we'll take the front door. Aaron, you and Amy will go around the West wall and..." He stopped short when he saw that Amy wasn't present, but moving from her ship toward the front door. "Amy, get over here!"

Amy only had time to look at him briefly before a missile lanced from seemingly out of nowhere and destroyed her ship, sending a burst of flaming debris in all directions and knocking the pink hedgehog to the ground. A jagged piece of metal lodged into her left leg behind the kneecap, and the searing pain caused her to struggle greatly in her attempt to play dead. The others sprinted to vacate the area, and more missiles darted in to destroy the remaining jets, but failed to do so after hitting and fragmenting some of the obscuring trees. There was another transport a short distance away, and everyone soon found themselves staring at the guns of the enemy ship as it circled their position.

Tails returned fire as two soldiers at the end of the hallway and one in a different room began firing upon the vulpine Freedom Fighter. The incident was only making him angrier because it served as yet another delay in finding his wife. One of their bullets found its way into the side of Tails' gun, where it mushroomed and wrecked the weapon's inner workings. Tails retreated back behind the doorway, but then remembered his protective suit and helmet and how they negated the need to dodge bullets. He smiled, clenched his fists and leapt out into the streams of ammunition.

His first target was the soldier firing from the room, whose eyes became wide with shock and terror as the black-clad fox ran at him like a hungry cheetah. Tails jerked the gun from his grip as he continued to fire in futility and tossed it aside, then rammed an empowered elbow into his stomach and slammed his head face-first through a wooden support beam in a wall, leaving a lifeless body twitching only from impulse. As the other two fled to the cavernous living room, Tails caught up to one of them and chucked him into the other, knocking the miltant into a wall and to the floor. The two-tailed fox, whose anger was calefying to the point of rage, dragged one of the screaming soldiers by his legs and flung him through a window, who was then quickly killed from his head hitting the top of the window frame. The last soldier, nose bloody from his collision with the wall, grabbed his auxiliary pistol and emptied the magazine at the approaching fox, but to no avail.

"Tell me where Kaolin is." Tails barked the order after sliding open a speech port in his helmet.

Before he could get an answer, the blast wave from the destruction of Amy's jet plowed through the windows and knocked him to the floor. Subsequent explosions from the trailing missiles would be felt seconds later. The soldier took that opportunity to pull a knife, hop to his feet and lunge at Tails' neck. Tails promptly moved his arm in the way and blocked the slash, then grabbed the attacker's forearm and rammed his helmeted head three times into the guy's forehead as he held him in place. After prying the knife from his hand and tossing it aside, he pushed the soldier off of him and got back to his feet, then jerked him up by the collar of his jacket and got him in a powerful headlock.

The irate fox repeated his demand even more fiercely. "Tell me where Kaolin is NOW or I will snap your neck like a stalk of celery. You have five seconds."

What sounded like voice over a microphone shot through the air in response. "Who do you mean, this little gray vixen right here?"

Tails perked his ears and released his grip, then heaved the soldier across the room and into the foot of a brick fireplace, cracking it. That voice was oddly familiar. He began to walk toward the West door after he grabbed one of the guns that lay on the carpeted floor, but then paused and looked it over. If the person indeed had Kaolin, he was probably going to rip the lowlife asunder, thereby negating the need for a gun. He dropped it and proceeded to the door.

"I'm waiting, Miles, as is your wife."

He cautiously grasped the handle and opened the door. What he beheld soon after caused the streak of bitterness on his heart to double in size, and he removed his helmet and tossed it aside to get a clearer look.

"Keryns."

It was the Shaulandic leader himself, General Peter Keryns, clad in a crisp midnight-blue military uniform and standing tall and proud in a small open area. His arm was extended before him, and at the end was a hand fastened tightly around Kaolin's neck, holding her a few feet above the ground. The light-gray fox, face awash with distress and fatigue, had both of her hands on his, struggling to keep her weight supported as the rest of her dangled helplessly below. Both of her bushy tails were tied together by light metal rope to prevent her from providing more resistance. Once Tails' eyes met her grievous, blood-soaked leg wound, all he wanted was the man's blood on his hands.

The grizzled man smiled and adjusted his glasses with his free hand. "Good to see you, Mister Prower. You did a spectacular job in there, defeating my elite soldiers with such passion and even instilling terror into their hardened hearts." His grip tightened, evident by Kaolin's increasingly distressed expression, whimpering and sounds of choking.

Tails had his eyes locked onto his opponent's, and proverbial flames roared in his pupils while an icy hatred was projected at the same time. "Get...your hands...off my wife...you sadistic piece of _filth_."

General Keryns gave a hearty guttural laugh. "Or what? Are you going to unleash your terrible furry wrath upon me?"

"No, but I am!" Sonic exclaimed as he shot out from behind a corner at full speed with a trail of bullets in tow. He had managed to escape the rapid-fire turrets of the hovering transport that Aaron and Elias didn't have the speed to escape, and therefore were still stuck standing near their ships. The ship ceased fire when Sonic came within a distance of their leader that would make it too hazardous to continue firing.

Keryns immediately chucked Kaolin into Tails, sending both of the foxes careening into a wall. A fraction of a second before the Blue Blur could plant his foot on his skull, the General grabbed his leg, broke his nose with a swift punch and slung him into the ground, causing a small tremor. He then reached down, grabbed him by the neck and held him in front of his grinning, mustachioed face. His iron grip led to some of the hedgehog's vertebrae popping out of place, and his windpipe was constricted almost to the point of strangulation. A few of the capillaries in Sonic's eyes ruptured from the pressure, giving them a bloodshot appearance. "Hello, rodent. It's been some time you've been in a situation like this, hasn't it? I remember hearing of Robotnik giving you what-for after he destroyed Knothole all those years ago. To this day, the story brings me a smile, and it inspires me to say this. You've met your limit." The General then launched the hedgehog into a tree, defoliating it very slightly.

Tails came back to his senses and found a partially-conscious Kaolin sprawled out over his torso. One of her fangs had been broken from the collision and her nose was bleeding. He only hoped that was the extent of the damage. She blinked slowly, and her large blue eyes met his, saturated with pain as well as relief. The two wrapped their arms around each other and lay there for a few moments, absolutely happy to be in each other's arms again. Tails gently released his embrace and got back to his feet, then helped his wife up and quickly walked her inside the house with his arm around her back. He then seated her on a chair and handed her a loaded pistol. "You'll be safer in here. Just stay put and shoot anything that looks threatening. I have a job to do."

She nodded, then looked up at him with big doe-eyes and thanked him. Tails planted a tender kiss on her lips before heading back outside.

Sonic winced upon hearing the General's words, and he looked at him with a countenance of solid determination. "And I'll say to you what I said to Ro-butt-nik back then. I'll give you a LIMIT." The cerulean hero promptly hopped to his feet and shot off into the verdant, tree-filled background. He then made a U-turn at a river bend over a mile away and sped fast enough to cause trees to be uprooted by the tailwinds. Time seemed to slow as he curled into a ball in preparation of executing a spin-dash into the man, but the hedgehog was utterly surprised when he hit nothing but air. General Keryns had leapt over the hedgehog's path, and when he was mere inches overhead, he sent one of his boot-encased feet down on Sonic's spine, causing him to angle downwards and plow into the ground, leading to a wave of dirt and debris resembling a speeding rock hitting the water at a nearly horizontal trajectory. Sonic came to rest about a hundred feet away in the trench he had created, and wondered what had just happened. _How on MOBIUS is this guy THAT strong and fast?_

The General ran to his position, smiling even more sadistically, then grabbed his semi-delirious prey by his neck and lifted him up once more. "As I said, you have met your limit, hedgehog. I AM your limit." With that, he chucked Sonic at a corner of the house, sending chunks of brick and wood across the ground as a large hole was carved into the structure. Before Sonic could get back up, Keryns was already at his side, leg arched back in preparation for a kick which he performed with the force and speed of a stock car at full throttle. The hedgehog was sent sailing into the air with a broken rib, losing more and more consciousness as each second passed.

While Sonic was still airborne, Tails picked up a brick and threw it at Keryns with staggering force, but the man looked back and blocked the projectile with his forearm, where it essentially evaporated into a small cloud of dust and chunks. The fox was awestruck. Either the guy had access to some sort of special energy or he had a power suit like he did. Both possibilities worried him considerably.

"You'll have your turn soon enough." The comment came moments before Sonic fell to within two feet of the ground, and the General spin-kicked him through a tree and into another, where the hedgehog came to rest with no consciousness or energy left in his small body. Indeed, he was almost dead.

Failing to take heed to the General's words, Tails took off like a rocket—his speed accelerated by both his tails and his suit. The man leapt again, but Tails anticipated the move and used his tails to elevate himself and allow him to land a kick to his side. _That didn't feel like flesh._

Keryns smiled and backhanded the fox onto the roof of the house. "Fool, you don't know who or WHAT you are dealing with, do you?"

Tails lifted himself from the resultant crater and rubbed the bleeding wound on his face. Not only did the man feel nothing like flesh when he kicked him, the backhand felt more like getting hit by a cluster of steel pipes. He decided to change tactics and not use his relatively unprotected feet and hands to deal blows, but his elbows and knees which were shielded and empowered by his suit much more thoroughly.

Another smile presented itself on Keryns' face before he ran and jumped onto the roof. Tails' eyes widened as he rolled out of the way in time to avoid a fist that plowed a hole into the shingles instead of his chest. The fox hopped to his feet and rammed an elbow into the General's back as hard as he could, and managed to leave a very small dent. _Yes, this guy is a cyborg._

"Surprised, fox boy?" A scythe suddenly protruded from the man's left arm, which he immediately swung at Tails' legs. The blade slashed the exterior of the suit and left a small gash on each leg, but came far from penetrating it to the skin. Tails flew in reverse before the General slashed again, then took to the sky. He intended to get back into his ship and use its cannons to finish him off, but his plan backfired when Keryns launched himself off the roof and into the air, where he threw a punch a fraction of a second after the fox dodged. He threw another punch as Tails began to fly away, but much more literally. His right fist left his arm and grabbed one of the fox's legs, then shot back to its socket by a cable and jerked his target with it. Tails was then thrown to the ground with enough force to very briefly rob him of consciousness. Keryns landed beside the fox and would've grabbed him by the neck had he not awakened and intercepted the hand with his own. This proved to be a mistake when Keryns squeezed Tails' hand almost to the point of breaking it, and a shout of pain came before a very powerful knee-thrust that hit the General on his side and tossed him a few feet away.

Tails rolled to the side, pushed himself up off the ground and got to his feet. He sprinted back into the house, grabbed the assault rifle he'd dropped earlier, quickly said "Hi" and "Bye" to his wife, then ran back out and peppered the approaching General with a hail of bullets. Surely the man had some vulnerable organic tissue.

Tails' doubts on the subject grew as the rounds pelted him with no effect, and he figured that he was either fully robotic or had any organic areas covered with armor.

Keryns threw his right fist again, but Tails dropped his gun, grasped the fist's cable and yanked the man toward him in the hopes of dealing another powerful blow with his knee. Instead of resisting, the General propelled himself faster along the path and quickly retracted his fist, causing Tails to lose his grip and his balance. Tails' right forearm was grabbed, and Keryns ran the blade on his arm across the fox's face from the upper-right to the lower-left, carving a bleeding diagonal gash and inciting a tortured shout. While Tails was still in his grasp, the General began to drag him over to a tree as the fox struggled to get loose, punching and kicking in futility. He held his arm up and rammed the blade through it and into the wood, pinning him in place. The resulting cry of pain could be heard across the countryside.

The General detached the blade and freed his left hand, which he then used to wrap around Tails' neck. "You fight well, Prower. Better than I remember."

Blood trickled down Tails' face as he stared at Keryns with a scowl. "What do you mean?! This is the first time we've fought!" His response had a sharp growl beneath it.

"And like last time, and the times before that, I'll let you live, because frankly, this is all a game to me. It always was. I've always been pulling the strings in every battle, laughing and taking enjoyment out of every battle you and your friends have lost."

"What are you talking about?!" If his arm didn't feel like it was going to be torn off with one wrong move, he was sure he could've punched straight through the guy, metal or not.

General Keryns' voice slowly morphed into a far more familiar one—one Tails hadn't heard in a long time. "Seeing you like this has given me even more of a reason to continue this war. Even more of a reason to continue tormenting your friends." The occasionally trilled R's made it even more obvious.

The expression that presented itself upon Tails' face made it appear as though he had seen a ghost. "No way. Snively killed you. You couldn't have survived that blast."

Keryns laughed. "I didn't! My surviving robots found my disembodied head a few hours after the mishap, thanks to the implants in my skull. My brain was removed and placed in a recovery tank for four years in order to rebuild the many necrotic cells and neural connections lost from it having been without sustenance for so long, as well as from the trauma of the blast itself. What you see is a super-body I had built over the months following the completion of the neural repairs. Once I had perfected my ability to carry out fine motor skills again, I continued along a plan I'd devised years prior. I searched for a nation that had become economically weak—a nation full of people who were willing to elect someone who told them what they wanted to hear if it meant getting them out of their struggles, and preferably one with its own nuclear arsenal. I found Shauland to be a prime candidate, so I inserted myself into their political system and eventually worked my way into the presidential race. I picked off my opponents one by one using every bit of information I could find to eradicate their will to continue, whether by blackmail, bankruptcy, or outright annihilation of their public image." He paused briefly and smiled darkly. "The people got who they called for and followed me every step of the way, and anyone who chose to get out of step was crushed. I then began spreading propaganda and fabricating evidence to rally opposition against the Freedom Fighters, the United Federation and their allies, and any other group or nation which displayed a mindset that failed to conform with my own. The world war that followed served to weaken the planet's nations and make them ripe for conquest."

Tails' scowl deepened as blood continued to spill from the gash on his face, dripping onto his suit and boots. "And the citizens of Shauland were merely expendable pawns. You knew the UF would nuke the living daylights out of your countr-..."

Robotnik cut him off. "Yes, I was more than willing to sacrifice those sheep. This is why most of my military was manufactured and stored in other nations."

"You...you monst-..."

"Monster. Yes, I am a monster, and once I take the reins of all the nations of the world, this monster will henceforth be called by his proper name—Doctor Ivo Robotnik." His face and voice showed deep pride upon hearing his self-spoken name. That expression changed abruptly to a more serious one, and he cocked his head to the side slightly as though he was listening to something. "It appears as though my time is running out here. I shall leave you and your friends to lick your wounds so we can play again another day." He morphed his voice back to that of General Keryns as he spoke the final sentence.

Time ran out faster than he had anticipated when the attack transport hovering nearby exploded and hit the ground in flames, throwing Elias and Aaron a short distance away and giving Amy a strong jolt. A small crimson combat freighter was coming in fast. Robotnik immediately hailed a series of small, identical, single-seater escape ships from the transport he had arrived in—only seconds before it exploded as well. He hopped aboard one of them and took off with the others in close proximity as the freighter swooped in and began firing its twin repeater railguns. The escape ships scattered in every direction as the freighter attempted to follow, which quickly terminated the idea of continuing. It then began circling the house and examining the people present. Once the pilot discovered that there were only Freedom Fighters and allies after a scan, they set the craft down in a grassy clearing.

Confused as to what had just happened, but happy nonetheless, Tails reached up to his skewered right forearm, grasped the shaft of metal holding it there and attempted to wiggle it out of place. There was virtually no progress since it was lodged into the wood so deeply, and the movements only added to the already lurid pain racking the wound. Compounding the ordeal was the fact that he was pinned to the side of the tree facing away from the ship that had attacked Robotnik's forces.

The loading ramp slowly lowered below the belly of the ship, and the pilot, a red female fox, jogged out from the rather bulky vessel. She appeared to be in her early twenties and sported a steely-blue skintight flight suit with two red stripes going down each side, accentuating the curves of her womanly form.

"Area secure! I am not a foe!" She shouted the words to relieve fears of more enemies being in the immediate area and to lessen any doubts of her friendly status. The red fox walked over to Amy first and pulled a small medical kit from her belt. Amy was barely conscious, and stayed that way when she was injected with a tranquilizer to prevent her from being jolted back to full awareness as the large piece of metal jutting from the back of her leg was yanked out and tossed aside. After the wound was cleaned and patched, the fox walked over to Tails' position. She winced when she saw his condition and promptly pulled a small laser cutter from her belt.

"Hey, you may have shot down some baddies and attempted to shoot down Keryns, but don't think you can take advantage of me as I..." Tails' tone changed once he got a good look at her face. "Fiona?!" The realization brought him even less comfort considering her past affiliation with the infamous crime group Ferox Mandatum.

"Relax, Miles, I'm not a threat anymore. I gave that up almost a year ago." She proceeded to wrap one of her gloved hands around the end of the piece of metal and positioned the laser cutter at a spot close to Tails' arm, all as he surveyed his former enemy askance. After setting the device to a very high energy level, it took only a second to separate that half of it. The brief flash-heating of the metal caused Tails a terse bout of pain, but nothing more. He immediately slid his arm free and grasped the wound tightly. "Now, let me see about patching it u-..."

"I'll deal with it later. Right now I need to check on my wife." Tails sprinted inside the house again and found Kaolin sitting in the same seat he had left her in, crying. He rushed in front of her and peered into her eyes with concern. "'Lin...'Lin, are you okay? It's over now."

Her tears had run down her muzzle and mixed slightly with the blood from the wound there, and she brushed her forearm across it to dry them away. The curtain of partially-dried blood on Tails' face didn't serve as a method of consolation. "I heard your screams—your pain. I could feel your pain and there was nothing I could do since a gun was obviously useless. I thought you were going to die."

Tails became overcome with emotion, and the two hugged in a warm and tearful embrace.

A frowning Fiona strolled into the house and walked past them with a pistol drawn, causing Tails to lift his head and look at her in confusion. "What's wrong?"

"I saw four other heat signatures in this place. Just making sure."

Kaolin's eyes widened. "WAIT! That's Liorah and her three kids!"

Tails looked back at his wife. "Liorah?" His peripheral vision caught a glimpse of Fiona leaving the house.

"The woman who owns this place, Liorah Avondale. She took care of me after the crash." The gray fox then placed her hands around her mouth and shouted an all-clear and her position. A few seconds later, Liorah and her children emerged from the end of the hallway, having been hiding in the attic.

The squirrel's eyes met Kaolin's and welled up with tears. "Kaolin! Thank God you're alright!" Liorah walked apace to her guest and glanced at the others along the way. "I wasn't sure what had become of you after you stayed behind to defend the room. I heard so much gunfire, and then there were those explosions!" She then handed Kaolin her gun. "I found this on the floor, by the way."

Kaolin smiled and put the gun back in its holster on her belt. "Oh, thank you."

Less than a minute passed before Fiona walked back inside with a rather dire but still stern expression and tone. "I suggest we get to a place with medical supplies soon. Sonic isn't doing very well, and by that, I mean he's very near death."

--

Author's notes: This chapter turned out to be a LOT longer than I'd planned, but it pleases me nonetheless, and hopefully you too! Chapter Nine is coming soon! Please review!

--  
Canon Sonic characters and places © Sonic Team, Sega  
Kaolin, story, other original characters, countries and organizations, etc © NuclearCookout


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine

Anxiety grew with each footstep as Tails paced next to the door of Kaolin's medical room. There was a notice of silence printed in bold lettering on a sign stuck to the door, signifying in-progress surgery. He hoped that there was nothing more serious than the external injuries he had seen on her, but the fact that he _didn't_ know kept his stomach in a knot. Another reason for his concern was that she had chosen to go ahead and have a prosthetic replacement added to her leg while the rest of her got patched up, a choice he both applauded and decried. She was certainly a fighter, and he knew she wanted to be in prime fighting condition at all times, but due to her weakened state from Robotnik's abuse, he wasn't sure if it was a good idea to go through with the procedure just yet. _Why am I pacing? It takes a good three hours to attach a cybernetic hardpoint._

Tails wandered over to a bench, sat down and took a deep breath which he then let out slowly. The thought of cybernetics inspired a new goal to build Kaolin a special leg at some point. It'd be a lot better than one of those general-issues.

He crossed his arms and wiggled around a bit to adjust to a better sitting position. The tee shirt and jeans he was wearing trumped his cyber suit in comfort by many orders of magnitude. The latter was in his subterranean workroom undergoing a brief repair session by his autosystems to fix the slashes and a few broken wires attained in battle.

He ran his fingers over the long scar that traversed his face from above his left eye down to the right side of his mouth, and winced when he hit a spot that was still tender. The surgeon did a good job at lasering that gash back together. He also did a good job at making the arm wound stop feeling like it was being run over by a truck, which Tails then held up and proceeded to examine. He carefully flexed his fingers while watching the muscles in his forearm contract, some of which were numb and reluctant to respond from the damaged nerves.

A soft sigh came before he closed his eyes and thought of the others who had been there. Amy was asleep in her bed, recovering from her leg wound and from the double shell-shock dealt by the detonations of her ship and the Shaulandic transport, as well as the dose of tranquilizing agent she'd been given by Fiona. Elias and Aaron had received minimal injuries and were in the cafeteria conversing amongst themselves. Liorah and her children had been brought to the base as a precaution in case of another attack and would probably be sent back with a few escorts later on, not only to protect them but to help clean up the mess. Sonic was on life support in the intensive care section. He'd received such a staggering beating that his heart had stopped twice along the way back to the base, and once more when he was placed under better medical supervision. _That makes two people we might lose._

Tails opened his eyes to ward off the increasing number of thoughts pertaining to his good times with his best friend. Though positive in nature, they only served to depress him in his situation. _Sonic is in specialized medical care, and he is going to pull through as always. I don't need to worry._ He closed his eyes again and silently said another prayer, adding to the ten he'd already prayed.

Following that, he opened his eyes again and reclined on the cushioned bench. He crossed his right leg over his left knee and began to mull over the disclosure of General Keryns' true identity. It was shocking, but it all made sense. Robotnik was a sadistic and crafty monster back when he had his real body over five years prior, and was just as much of one if not more so as the leader of Shauland. It reinforced Tails' belief that the Doctor had held back on releasing the killdrones until the Freedom Fighters and their allies had started to get the upper hand. He could believe that the civilians who were sent to be killed were sent simply to sate his enjoyment of his enemy's suffering, though it was probably for propaganda purposes as well. He also thought about how easy it was to down the fighters that served as a distraction preceding Robotnik's infiltration of the Avondale household, adding merit to his claim that he allowed Tails and his team to live time and time again. In retrospect, that was fairly contradictory to the instances where they would have lost their lives if things had turned out differently, such as the killdrone attack. One of them obviously tried to kill him and Kaolin on the ground, as had others in the air, and another came very close—and it was still too soon to say—to killing Antoine. That fact, coupled with the knowledge that they would've certainly lost battles without their skill level, meant Robotnik was probably lying just to boost his superiority factor and ego. Tails was also puzzled as to how Robotnik would've known how to pound Sonic within an inch of his life without actually killing him. Perhaps he really did try to kill him and simply failed, or perhaps he managed to calculate how long it would take since he probably had a couple supercomputers in that body of his.

Tails was so deep in thought that he didn't even notice Elias approaching. The brown-furred squirrel smiled and sat down next to him, then noticed his vapid expression and grew concerned. "Hey Tails."

The unexpected voice caused the fox to jolt. "Oh, hey Elias."

"Sorry if I startled you."

"Don't worry about it." Tails sighed and rubbed his chin. "Just sitting and thinking."

Elias nodded and turned his head to the door of Kaolin's medical room, then leaned forward a bit and folded his hands. "How is she?"

The vulpine frowned and shook his head lightly. "I don't know. I'm hoping someone will walk out and tell me, but...uh..." His voice trailed off and was followed by the sound of an empty stomach. He hadn't eaten since before he interrogated the two Shaulandic officials.

"Well, I hope she's alright. Also, how's your face?"

"It's much better, though some spots are still tender. Then there's the issue of certain muscles being partially or fully unresponsive." He shrugged. "I'll take some supplements to rebuild the nerves as best they can be and things'll be better."

Elias nodded again. "That's good." He sat silently for a few moments twiddling his thumbs, then grinned and commented on Tails' growling stomach. "One of the chefs made some pies earlier."

Tails perked an ear and turned his head enough to get his friend into his peripheral vision. "What kind?"

"Chocolate, mint chocolate, vanilla cream, and pineapple raspberry of all things." The last three words were conveyed with almost a mumble.

The second one hit home. "I'm getting some."

Tails slowly stood up and made his way down the hall toward the cafeteria. Each footstep brought an ache to most of his body, and his hunger pangs weren't helping. He considered getting a protein-laden meal before enjoying a slice or two of pie, but the latter sounded too irresistible to let trail behind prefatory sustenance, especially if it was the same recipe as it was the last time he had pie.

He stepped through the double doors leading into the large cafeteria and was immediately hit with a blast of various smells of cooking food. One of his eyelids flinched as his stomach suddenly felt like it had collapsed into itself and created a black hole of pure raging hunger. He quickened his pace after getting one of the rows of dessert serving trays into his sights.

Once he had gathered two pieces of chocolate mint pie, he seated himself at one of the large circular tables near the center of the room. Without waiting another moment, he grabbed a fork and took his first bite. _Oh yes, just like last time. SQUEE._ He then glanced around at those present while chewing his second delicious bite. At a table in a corner, he saw Oryn and Aaron jesting merrily amongst themselves. The sight gave him a pleasant grin—it brought him solace to know that they could laugh so soon after a traumatic event. He shifted his gaze five tables to the left and spotted Fiona, who was sitting quietly while staring into space and sipping a beer.

Fiona's eyes appeared to be glazed over as she tromped through the depths of her thoughts. She hadn't even noticed Tails' presence, but she did happen to be thinking about him. It baffled her as to how he was married. She remembered him as the kind of person who was too weak for marriage, but then again, the Tails she knew was the child who existed seven years prior. Since then, she hadn't paid too much attention to him due to her relationship with Scourge and her increased involvement in organized crime. She had been too busy making her way through life. However, deep down, she still had some feelings for him, even after she rejected him for the green hedgehog. After Scourge's death due to Big the Cat and his nuke, there was an empty loneliness left in the wake—a longing for somebody else, and the fact that Tails was married meant she'd lost any chance there might've been between them. It was too bad. He'd grown fairly attractive.

She blinked and looked at her beverage with a mildly befuddled expression, wondering if it was doing the thinking for her. After a few moments, she shrugged and downed a good portion of it. It was then that she noticed Tails out of the corner of her eye. She briefly scanned him over and thoughtfully raised her eyebrows by a few millimeters. Maybe it wasn't the drink. _Too bad, married._ She slowly turned her head back toward her table and looked at her beer bottle. Since she was beginning to get bored, she decided to pay the golden-orange fox a visit and catch up on a few things, something she wouldn't have dreamed of doing in the past due to her attitude.

The vixen sauntered over to Tails' table and daintily grabbed the back of one of the square-seated chairs a couple of spaces away, then swiftly pulled it out and sat on the corner closer to him. Tails broke his fixation on the pie and looked at her in mild surprise. The visit was _completely_ unexpected.

"So Tails, I hope you didn't get too banged up by that madman."

Tails looked at the pie again and took another bite. He was still leery of her and therefore reluctant to carry on what appeared to be the start of a casual conversation. "Meh. Bruises. Pulled muscles. Face hurts. Arm pain. All that stuff. I'll live."

She placed an arm on the table and leaned into it. "Good to know. I've been through a lot over the past few years. Had to deal with a lot of pain." A light nod followed. "Physical, as well as emotional."

_I guess she's bored._ "Yeah, I'd figure running a large underground business entity would do that."

Fiona took another swig of her beer before continuing. "Well, not just that. You remember Scourge."

Tails winced slightly. "Not sure I could forget."

"Shortly after I took over Ferox, he started behaving differently. It's like he was intimidated since I held so much power. Started being distant and even a little snappy. After awhile, it was like he was a stranger. I confronted him, and he popped off with a bunch of whiny garbage about teamwork and sharing power and all that [expletive]. He stormed off and didn't talk for about a month. Then Big came along and nearly had me killed, then took power once he believed I was dead. I decided to lay low for a while and plan my vengeance. Took me some time to track him down, and when I did, he was beating the living [expletive] out of Kaolin. I gave him a run for his money, but he beat me senseless anyhow." She looked at the mostly empty beer bottle and made a mental note to get another. "I woke up when you were throwing him around and quietly left to patch the damage done. Then I found out that the city that was leveled was the one Scourge was in for a business deal I'd caught wind of him planning to make."

Tails finished the first piece of pie and started on the second, invisibly irritated that he was unable to enjoy it more so thanks to the breaking of silence by her company. _STOP TALKING._ "Well, are you totally unhappy of the loss or...or what? If that's not too blunt of a questio-..."

Fiona cut him off with a cold laugh. "It was for the best. I'm sure he'd have become a problem later on. I feel more free, too."

Tails' communicator buzzed tetchily, causing him to nearly drop his fork. He plucked it from his belt and saw a text message from NICOLE stating a new development concerning the information he had extracted from the two Shaulandic officials. _Fantastic. A possible breakthrough AND a good excuse to go someplace that Fiona isn't._ He scarfed down the rest of the pie and wiped his mouth with a napkin, then stood from his chair and brushed the crumbs from his shirt and lap. "Seems I'm wanted."

The red fox smiled up at him. "Have fun. I'm gonna go get another beer." Tails nodded emotionlessly, and as he turned and walked off, she scanned him over again. _Yep, too bad._

--

Author's notes: Thank you for reading, and please review! Chapter Ten should be up in a few days.

--  
Canon Sonic characters and places © Sonic Team, Sega  
Kaolin, story, other original characters, countries and organizations, etc © NuclearCookout


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter Ten

NICOLE stood in the middle of the main control room as she processed the fantastic amount of information streaming from the primary computer core, doing so quite efficiently at hundreds of septillions of calculations every second. The sentient computer was in her corporeal holographic lynx form, clad in a formal purple business suit with a pressed knee-length skirt rather than slacks. Her form was a common sight due to the colossal amount of power that allowed her to sustain it, produced by the base's formidable fusion reactor cluster buried almost a mile underground. A cheerful tune was hummed with her melodic voice while she lightly tapped her foot on the metal floor, patiently awaiting Tails' arrival. She heard the door handle turn a few moments later, then looked back and smiled when the fox walked in. "Hello Tails. Glad to see you are safe, especially after that kind of battle."

Tails reciprocated the smile and added a gentle nod. "Yeah, and it could've easily been worse. We got Sonic stable, and now I'm just waiting to hear of Kaolin's status. She decided to get her cybernetic leg early." The last sentence came with a rather skeptical tone.

"Heh, that does sound like Kaolin. She is certainly a fighter, and a valuable member of our group."

She clasped her hands behind her back and resumed her gaze at the main screen. Thousands of lines of coding and information were speeding upwards across the large display in varying numbers of columns, casting broken, flickering light across the room. NICOLE swiftly moved her hand in front of her, and the deluge of data stopped. A glowing blue rectangle appeared around a sizeable section of coding, subsequently moving it to one side of the main column and magnifying it. The coding rapidly translated into legible sentences and images.

The two-tailed fox squinted momentarily and twitched an ear. "Oh wow. Detailed blueprints of the killdrones?"

NICOLE nodded with a mild grin. "Correct, and the proper name is Xenith25 ARVaGeF, All Range Variable Geometry Fighter, conceptualized by Ivo Robotnik over five years ago and commenced manufacturing eleven months ago in the Democratic People's Republic of Aktau, which was an ally of Shauland before it fell during the war. The access codes you hammered out of the captives gave us admission to databanks full of highly detailed blueprints, miles of programming data...hehe, miles...and even the names of the system's developers." She looked back at him. "We have so much information that we could build one of these if we wanted."

Tails moved closer to her, face covered in astonishment. "So...have you determined any additional weaknesses of those things?"

She looked at the screen again. "Yes. I am already developing plans for weapons that can and will exploit those flaws if they attack again. We should have prototypes very soon."

The information brought Tails considerable happiness. Once the new defensive weapons were complete, they'd have much less to worry about concerning the Xeniths. _Seems the tables have turned, Robotnik._ However, there was a nagging doubt deep within the back of Tails' mind. Something didn't seem right. It seemed too easy. Since Robotnik had sent those civilians to die, perhaps he had been prepared for the capture of the captain and the guy who accompanied him. _What was the purpose of that second guy even being there since there were no drones?_ If that was the case, the information could have been tainted, although NICOLE would have surely caught any anomalies.

Tails cleared his throat briefly and moved a few steps closer, then clasped his hands behind his back. "How certain are you of the legitimacy of this information?"

"Substantially. I have compared the data here to the small amount of corresponding data we managed to extract from the destroyed Xeniths. It matches perfectly."

Tails' worry grew. _This doesn't make any sense. He just practically threw a huge secret to the wolves._ "It...it fails to add up, though. How is it _this_ easy?"

"A staggering lack of foresight on Keryns' part, perhaps?" NICOLE shrugged. "However, if Keryns is indeed Robotnik as you claim, that lack of foresight would be uncharacteristic and would lend itself to the possibility that this is indeed some sort of setup. I am already compiling a list of possible situations to prepare for in case something unpleasant does happen. I have also proposed a meeting with Sally and the divisional heads of some other groups stationed here to discuss action based on our findings, and I'm expecting the arrival of the leader and some officials from that previously unknown group you came across during the civilian incident, Drasco Mercenary Collective. They wish to form an official allegiance with us."

He flinched upon being reminded of the tragedy, but smiled upon hearing the good news. "Oh, that's good. I was wondering what happened to them. Do you know when the meeting might start?"

"I will notify you prior to the meeting's commencement."

"Alright." He stood there for a few more seconds, staring at the luminous waterfalls of data. "Anything else?"

NICOLE turned her head to look at him once more. "Not at the moment. You can go back to doing whatever. I'd recommend going to eat something. Your iris patterns denote hunger."

Tails nodded and expressed his thanks, then headed out the door and into the labyrinth of hallways. He knew that pie wouldn't hold him for very long, so his next task was to eat something with more substance. _Something like PIZZA._

His footsteps echoed as he made his way past another four-way intersection, and amidst the general emptiness of the path to the cafeteria, he thought upon what NICOLE had said and what she planned to do. She was good at planning and preventing horrible things from happening, but she could only do so much. Something told him that Robotnik was up to something, and that another drone attack would probably be very bad, if not as bad or worse than the previous one. The thought of being prepared reminded him of his arm injury and how it lessened his fighting potential. He could still grip things, type, make a fist and pick up tiny objects using two fingers, but the movements were slower and weaker than what was optimal. If he was going to be caught up in another bout of hand-to-hand combat, he would need more than that, and he didn't have the time to wait for the nerves to grow back to their original state. _I need a movement-assist gauntlet._ He made a mental note to program his auto-builder to create such a thing, and with his vast knowledge of programming, it would probably take less than ten minutes to code. The fact that he would be using his auto-builder yet again made him cringe a bit considering how he enjoyed building things manually, but as with his cybernetic suit, it saved time that he didn't have.

He came upon yet another intersection, then stopped and looked down the halls to his left and to his right. One led to the cafeteria, and the other led to the infirmary. _Ah, what could it hurt. I'll go check up on Sonic and get some eats afterwards._

A few more moments of walking brought him to the door of the intensive care room, which was a few rooms down the hall from the one the other Freedom Fighters were in. Tails cautiously turned the handle and opened the heavy door, hoping to cause as little noise as possible, then slowly walked inside. He looked toward the back at another room beyond that one, separated by a wall-sized pane of glass. Within that room was a white bed upon which lay the comatose Sonic, who was being kept alive by a respirator and other large medical machines. Accompanying him were two doctors, a Human and an aardvark, both keeping tabs on his minute-by-minute status.

Tails approached the window and looked at him dolefully. He still couldn't understand how Sonic would've been hurt that badly from something that really wasn't as bad as what he had been through in the past. He wouldn't think that Sonic's special endurance would've decreased that much upon reaching his mid-twenties, but then again, Sonic had been through quite a lot over the past ten months of raging war. Maybe it was the stress. Maybe it was something deeper.

All of their good memories suddenly began cascading through his mind. Instead of suppressing them like he did before, Tails allowed them to play freely, and tears began to fill his eyes as a result. _You're gonna make it through this, Sonic. You will make it through, and we will win this war together._

He brushed away a tear before it could touch his lips and promptly wiped it on his thigh. He didn't like crying in public. It was what he saw as a lack of self control, though it was acceptable in certain instances. Once he felt he was composed enough, he walked back out and into the hallway.

Upon entering the cafeteria again, he made a bee-line for the pizza and seasoned bread section. Fiona was sitting at the same table as last time, so he decided to pretend that said table and said vixen had completely surceased existence altogether. He plucked a few pieces of pepperoni pizza from a tray and quickly scanned for a place to sit. There were dozens of empty tables to choose from, but he wanted to start a conversation with someone as a deterrent to Fiona's boredom-spawned, and possibly drunken at that point, ramblings. To his glee, he saw Oryn all alone, thus designating him as his primary target.

The teal cyborg fox was daydreaming quite deeply, completely oblivious to his surroundings as he mindlessly sipped on a soda. The fact that a very small amount of the soda was dribbling down his chin meant that he was really out of it.

Tails practically dropped his tray on the table and valiantly made his presence known. "Hiya Oryn! How's it going?"

Oryn was jolted violently from his fantasy land, eyes widened with shock. "Oh! Hi...Tails. Eh, I dunno. Daydreaming and stuff. Things."

"Nice, nice. Say, what kind of soda is that?" Tails joyfully bit down on a slice of pizza.

"Let's see, it's a kamikaze mix of root beer, lime soda, sugar, cream soda, raspberry soda, sugar, cranberry juice, tea, lemonade, sugar, brown gravy, nacho cheese, a pinch of onion powder, and pure, unadulterated sugar."

Tails nodded his approval. "Very nice, very...wait wait, what were those last three or four?"

Oryn laughed. "Nah, just messin' with ya. Wanted to see the look on your face. It has everything besides the last four...well, the last one is obviously there, but yeah. Yep, this is a cup-sized field of sugarcane. By the time I'm done, my blood should be the consistency of cold honey...and speaking of honey, I've, uh, had my eye on that crimson cutie over there."

_Great, thanks for reminding me._ "Oh, Fiona?"

"Yeah. You know her?"

"Unfortun-...yes."

"Is she...single?"

"I guess." Tails took another bite. "But, I would strongly, and I mean STRONGLY, advise against...hitting...on...eh..."

Oryn was already on his way to her table before he could finish. Tails shrugged and silently watched from the corner of his eye. Less than a minute passed before Fiona smiled and lightly touched the cyborg on the nose, apparently as a sign of rejection, then stood and looked directly at Tails. Oryn's expression confirmed it.

_Why...WHY._

Beer bottle held between two dainty fingers, Fiona swaggered over to Tails' table with a rather suggestive gait and an equally suggestive swinging of her bushy tail, then took a seat with a faint smile. Tails suddenly acquired the massive urge to kill something.

"You didn't put him up to that, did you?"

"No. In fact, I..."

She quickly cut him off. "Ah, good. Anyways, isn't it annoying when you get called to do something when you're in the middle of a conversation?"

_Not when it's you I'm talking to._ "Yes indeed."

"Yeah." A brief pause followed, and she took a swig of her drink. "You know, that scar...how does it make you feel?"

Tails blinked. "It makes me feel like I got a larger than normal cut on my face rather recently."

Fiona snickered, then immediately burst into roaring laughter, prompting a halfhearted chuckle from the golden-orange fox. "I love the attitude, Tails. You don't take it too seriously, and for the record, I think it looks...kinda cute. Makes you look more rugged."

_Wonderful, now she's hitting on me._ He pushed his food to the side, then clasped his hands on the table and let out an irritated sigh while looking her square in the eyes. "Fiona, do you even know what you're saying? How many beers have you had?"

Her expression hardened—not enough to denote anger, but enough to show disappointment. "Does a complement have to come from an inebriated psyche? We haven't seen each other in a long time. Since then, I've lost a lot of my immaturity and bitterness. I'm just trying to be nice."

One of Tails' eyebrows shot up as a result of her obvious sweet-talking and surreptitious deceit. "Okay, but my question remains unanswered."

Fiona rolled her eyes. "Three, and please, I've shot down ace pilots—ACES—with _eight_ beers in my system. I've come to handle alcohol very well over the years."

_Is this woman even real?_ Tails gave a non-genuine series of nods. "Okay, that's...saying something, I must admit. There is something I would like you to remember, though."

"And that is?"

Tails held up his left hand with his palm facing himself, four fingers pointing upward and thumb curled inward out of view, displaying his golden wedding ring. "See this? This is a wedding ring—my promise of lifelong fidelity to Kaolin. Remember that."

Her countenance softened, but only on the outside. "You have nothing to worry about. What kind of monster would I be to try and pull you two apart?"

Before Tails could make a rather tactless answer, his communicator buzzed impatiently again. He quickly snatched the device from his belt and examined the screen. "Ah, I have an important engagement to attend to. If you'll excuse me."

"Of course."

Tails jogged away, having completely forgotten about his food. Fiona's faux smile turned cold.

--

Author's notes: Thank you again for reading, and please review! Chapter Eleven should be up in a few days.

--  
Canon Sonic characters and places © Sonic Team, Sega  
Kaolin, story, other original characters, countries and organizations, etc © NuclearCookout


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter Eleven

Tails pulled a chair from the large mahogany meeting table and sat upon the soft red cushion. He then glanced at the various individuals seated nearby, noticing both old and new faces. _This meeting came together a lot sooner than I'd thought it would...and I can't believe I forgot my pizza._

Of the familiar attendees, there was the leader of the Fort Dallas Division of the United Cyborg Hegemony, Oryn. He seemed somewhat nervous but otherwise well-composed. Part of the problem originated from the colossal amount of sugar that was still coursing its way through his system, which also caused his pupils to be dilated considerably. Seated a few spaces down from him was the leader of the New Lubbock Freedom Fighters, Elias Acorn, who was sitting there with a stolid countenance that was a quotidian feature for him when he reigned as the king of the former Acorn Kingdom. The rest of the group was either recognizable but still fairly unfamiliar, or simply unknown to the golden-orange fox. _Odd, shouldn't Sally be here?_

His silent question was answered when the brown-furred co-leader of the Freedom Fighters of Fort Dallas walked in from a different room and strolled to the front of the large table. Tails detected a large amount of distraught from her body language, which was undoubtedly a result of Sonic's condition as well as the conditions of the other Freedom Fighters.

Sally stood behind the seat and placed her hands on the back, then looked across the room at everyone present. "It's good to see all of you here. As you know, I have called this meeting to address the new and growing threat of Shauland's shapeshifting killdrones, but we are still awaiting the arrival of some newcomers who should be here very soon."

As if she had spoken a cue, the leader of the Drasco Mercenary Collective, Eddy Drasco, and a small cortege of five members from his group's upper echelon slowly walked into the room. He was a stout feline with a stripy dark gray and steel blue fur pattern, clad in an outfit consisting of a heavy denim jacket and jeans with a large combat belt, a brown ten-gallon hat comprised of oilskin leather, and black steel-toed combat boots.

Eddy gave a lopsided, toothy grin as he scanned the room with his striking green eyes, and spoke with a deep, gravelly voice that had a slight Southern accent. "I hope I'm not too late for the party."

Sally smiled back and clasped her hands in front of her. "Eddy Drasco. Just who we were expecting. Please, have a seat."

"A'yes'm." He and two of his crew promptly took their seats. The remaining three continued standing due to lack of seating.

Following that, Sally pulled out her chair and sat down. "Alright. First off, I believe it would be appropriate for the leaders to introduce themselves to Mr. Drasco and his associates in order to provide a less-anonymous atmosphere for them. Of course, I am Sally Acorn, co-leader of the Fort Dallas Freedom Fighters. My husband Sonic is currently recovering in medical and is thus unable to be here." The last few words were broken slightly, and she struggled to hold back the approaching tears. Her hand proceeded to extend toward Tails. "I also shouldn't overlook Tails—eh, Miles Prower, who regularly performs leadership duties for us."

Tails' facial expression showed a hint of surprise upon being called out considering he wasn't one of the leaders, but it flattered him nonetheless and caused a faint grin to appear. Sally then looked at the person sitting to her right and nodded once, commencing a chain of introductions.

"Oryn Zulch, United Cyborg Hegemony."

"Lexin Elgan, Mercia Defense Coalition."

"Todd Millers, Guardian Units of Nations."

"Bryce Genet, Global Firearms Alliance."

"Elias Acorn, New Lubbock Freedom Fighters."

"Jonah Noack, Insight Tactics and Techsystems."

"Cedric Fitzhugh, Cypress Securities International."

"Steven Nasworthy, Fourmile Communications and Logistics Group."

Eddy nodded once to each as they spoke as a gesture of respect. Once they had finished, he slackened his shoulders a bit before speaking. "As was already made known, I am Eddy Drasco. The two lovely ladies sitting next to me are my twin daughters, Stacy and Jessica, who serve on my advisory and strategic committee. Behind me is May Milburn, who is also on my advisory committee and will talk your arm off if she can corner you, and the two beefy feline statues you see to her left have chosen to remain unnamed."

Stacy sported a mostly steel blue color with stripes of lighter blue running horizontally across her face and down the back and sides of her slender body. Jessica was more of a sky blue and had black stripes. Both were in their early twenties and clad in denim raiment similar in style to their father's. They smiled but remained silent, though Stacy acted as if she was about to say something.

May, a full-figured light brown ring-tailed cat—actually related to raccoons rather than felines—also in her early twenties and sporting denim apparel, smiled brightly and spoke in a sweet and energetic voice with a much heavier Southern accent. "Sure glad ta meet y'all!"

The idea of having such a friendly new potential ally brought a warm smile to Sally's face and washed away some of her angst. "Good, now that introductions are out of the way, let us move on to our primary subject. I have called you all here to discuss the growing threat of Shauland's shapeshifting killdrones, known officially as Xenith25 ARVaGeF—All Range Variable Geometry Fighter. The proper name is amongst a multitude of other things we have recently discovered about them thanks to the information Miles pounded out of two Shaulandic officials."

Jonah adjusted his glasses while straightening his posture. The gray-and-white wolf seemed very pleased with the news. "This must mean you have found weaknesses?"

"Yes we have." She grabbed a small remote control and pressed a button, dimming the lights and activating a hologram projector in the center of the table. A detailed image of a Xenith25 promptly appeared. "There is a variety of ways to destroy or otherwise immobilize them, some simpler than others. We have compiled a list and will be sharing the file with you electronically. However, the best and previously unknown way to disable one is by subjecting it to a specific frequency of sound at a very high volume. This will severely damage certain internal components as well as disrupt some of its sensors, which will render the machine clumsy and unable to defend itself. If done while they are in aircraft mode, they will careen out of control and be destroyed upon impact with the ground or some other conveniently hard surface. A powerful specialized projection module for producing such sounds is under development. We will not only make large stationary versions to place around bases or on ships, we will also be making handheld and aircraft-mounted versions."

The three-dimensional Xenith projection began to animate, simulating a scenario where it was hit by a sound weapon, rendering it defenseless and open to a rocket attack.

Various nods and whispers followed as people saw that there was indeed a means of efficient defense against the ruthless Xeniths.

Bryce clasped his hands in front of him on the table and grinned. "What is the timeframe of development?"

"We expect a small prototype to be ready within an hour, and a much larger one to be ready within a day. Once they are proven against some Xeniths we salvaged from the last attack, we will begin manufacturing many more. Assistance in doing the latter would be greatly appreciated."

Jonah smiled. "Insight Tactics and Techsystems would be more than willing to lend its considerable resources to assist in manufacturing and distribution." His comment was responded to with pledges of support from the other leaders, and he wore a confident smirk as they spoke. Sally's expression brightened further.

Over the following thirty minutes or so, a few more questions were asked and answered before the meeting was adjourned. Some of the attendees returned to their sections of the large base complex while others stayed behind to talk with one another. Tails chose to stay because he was particularly interested in what Eddy had to say about the civilian incident.

The fox extended his hand upon reaching his person of interest. "Hello Mr. Drasco, Miles Prower."

Eddy grinned widely, then quickly—and very firmly—grasped Tails' hand and shook it, giving him an unexpected ride. "Howdy! I do believe you were amongst those who helped the _Avenger_ out of that pickle a little while ago."

"Yes sir, I was." _Good grief, this guy can shake a hand._

The robust feline released his powerful grip. "Well, I must extend a mighty big thanks to you and your men, as well as condolences for the unfortunate twist in events. Never thought they'd stoop that low."

Tails nodded and tried to ignore the unpleasant tingling in his hand, flexing it a few times. "Yes, and I made the captain and one of the higher-ups regret that decision. It's only the beginning for them, as well."

As Eddy expressed his approval, Stacy and Jessica broke away from another conversation and walked back into their father's immediate vicinity. What Tails had perceived as shyness earlier would soon be shot down, and Jessica was the first to extend her hand in greetings. "Ah, Miles! Glad to finally meet you!"

Tails grasped the dainty hand and smiled. "Good to meet you as well, and you all can call me Tails if you wish. That's how most people address me here."

Stacy subsequently extended her hand and offered her greetings, which Tails promptly and happily reciprocated. He was then taken by surprise when May hastily inserted herself into the group and snatched Tails' hand with her big amber eyes locked onto his. "Mr. Prower! Ah've heard s'much about you ever since ya helped our guys! All of'em expressed their gratitude an' talked for some time about your pro flyin' skills! Been lookin' forward ta meetin' ya!"

Almost overwhelmed by her friendly boisterousness, Tails smiled and slowly nodded once to the pudgy ringtail. "Eh, thank you! Glad to see someone with your enthusiasm!"

Eddy laughed. "Careful Tails, that enthusiasm fuels some long-winded discussions!"

"Aw, Ah don't talk THAT much!"

The following conversation lasted over an hour and a half and led to them sitting down again. Had she not started talking about engineering and mechanics around twenty minutes into the discussion, thereby inciting Eddy and Jessica to talk about their mechanical expertise, Tails would have been bored to tears.

Right as the conversation seemed like it was coming to a close, Tails' communicator began buzzing. He grabbed it from his belt and read a text message that had just been sent by Kaolin. _"TAILSIEEEE!!! I got my new leg! Come see!"_ The fox grinned slightly. _That didn't take as long as I thought it would. Sweet!_

Tails grinned further and clipped the device back on his belt, then looked up at the others. "Well, this has certainly been a wonderful conversation, but I must go see my wife. May our allegiance thrive, and I hope to speak with you all again soon!"

The four responded in unison. "Likewise."

A few seconds later, Tails found himself walking down the hall toward the infirmary again. He smiled while thinking upon the conversation and how kind those people were, especially May. He was thrilled that there was a commonality between him, Eddy and Jessica—the love of mechanics. Jessica in particular caught his attention with her technobabble, and he felt a considerable bond forming between them, though it was only a brother-sister bond. There was no way on Mobius he would let another woman break his rock-solid relationship with Kaolin. _Note to self: Avoid the cafeteria until Fiona has vacated it._

He made his way to Kaolin's room and carefully opened the door, then slowly walked inside. Kaolin's expression brightened by many orders of magnitude upon seeing him, and she hopped off of her white medical bed—much to her doctor's chagrin—and gave her surprised husband a bear-hug. "I'm so happy to see you! Look at my leg!" She then stepped back and stuck her right leg out, giving him a better view of the sleek robotic attachment.

"That's really cool! And...should you really be standing after that kind of surgery?"

Kaolin plopped back down on her bed with a lightly dampened countenance and shifted her gaze to the floor. "No, I really shouldn't. That actually kinda hurt...a lot..."—She looked back up with a smile—"but for you, it's totally worth it."

Tails grinned. "Heh, you don't have to hurt yourself."

Standing in a corner was the doctor, an older male feline of medium stature and build, who shook his head prior to speaking. "I did say to stay off it for awhile. It's going to take time for those nerves to settle down."

Kaolin whipped a sharp but playful glance back at the doctor. "You know I can't acquiesce that request." She stood again, though more slowly that time and careful to keep pressure on her good leg, then approached her husband once more and smiled, showing her repaired fang. "My tooth is fixed, too. Now let's go test it out on something to eat. I'm starving!"

_Oh great, cafeter-...hmm. Her presence would make more of a point to Fiona if she's still there._ He nodded. "I'm hungry too. Let's go!"

--

Author's notes: Thank you again for reading, and please review! Chapter Twelve should be up in a few days.

--  
Canon Sonic characters and places © Sonic Team, Sega  
Kaolin, story, other original characters, countries and organizations, etc © NuclearCookout


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter Twelve

He couldn't explain it. The fact that Fiona was STILL sitting at the SAME spot was utterly baffling to him. Tails had considered the possibility that she would indeed still be there, but it was the fact that she really _was_ still there after one and a half hours scared him. He took another bite of his pizza while trying to cope with his frustration. _Stay away from me, woman. Don't even think about it._

A mildly perplexed expression showed itself on Kaolin's face as she looked at Tails while sipping on the straw in her drink. She then set it down and poked him on the arm. "Is everything okay?"

Tails snapped to attention. "Oh, eh, just thinking." He lowered his voice to almost a whisper. "Fiona was hitting on me earlier, I'm sure of it. I think she might also have been drunk. Hard to say, but keep an eye open anyway."

Kaolin cocked an inquisitive brow and glanced at the crimson-furred fox. "Really? The nerve."

"Yeah. She didn't say much after I showed her the ring, but I'm still wary." Tails bit into his pizza and chewed for a few moments. "I don't know if she's noticed us yet. Hopefully she'll just stay where she is, floating in La-La Land or whatever." His elbow subsequently knocked a plastic fork to the floor, causing Fiona's ear to perk up and her head to turn toward them. _NO. NO. NO._

Fiona grinned slightly and walked over, moving with a gait that was much less provocative than their last encounter. She pulled a seat as Tails struggled to keep himself from facepalming. "Back again, eh Tails? I see you have Kaolin with you this time." She extended her hand and smiled. "Fiona Fox."

Kaolin wore a cold expression and remained unmoving. "Kaolin Prower, and forgive me if I seem reluctant to shake your hand."

The red fox withdrew her hand and clasped it with her other, appearing fairly disappointed but also understanding. "That's understandable. I'm sure Tails has told you a few things about me, and frankly I am not proud of them. I was a mean-spirited and immature person back when I was a teenager, but that is long past. I hope we can put that aside, if not now, then soon."

Tails' eyelid flinched unnoticeably. "Bah, I forgot napkins. I'll be right back."

The two vixens watched as Tails stood and made his way to the napkin dispenser across the large room, and both caressed his masculine body with their eyes while he walked. Fiona broke her gaze before Kaolin could notice, then looked at the light gray fox. "You know, you're lucky. He's a good kid and someone worth being with—something I failed to realize way back when."

A slight amount of suspicion permeated Kaolin's thoughts as she took another bite of her pizza. "Yep, that's why I married him. We work together and get along so amazingly well, and he treats me far better than I see most men treating their wives. He makes me laugh, he comforts me when I cry. I cherish every scintilla of time we spend together."

Fiona's expression dampened, but not enough to draw Kaolin's attention. The response exhumed memories of Scourge and his uncouth attitude. He mistreated her regularly—verbally as well as physically—but she tolerated his antics because she saw them, at the time, as a sign of power. She even enjoyed the abuse to an extent, but once Scourge essentially dumped her, she began to see what a mistake the relationship had been. The lonely hole that had been left in her heart when he was killed—the longing for him to come back—lasted only a brief while as her eyes began to open further and further, ending with her taking a certain satisfaction in his death. She came to fill that pit of loneliness with things such as alcohol, avarice, and killing. Every swig of beer she drank, every bounty she collected, every life she took, all brought her joy.

However, once she found that Tails was married, another thing entered her heart—envy. Pure, unadulterated envy. She coveted the fact that he and Kaolin had such a beautiful relationship. She loathed how she had squandered her earlier years with an idiot, and seeing Tails enjoying such happiness with who she saw as a weak and overweight—overweight compared to her slender and toned physique, anyway—pushover made her blood boil. What really put the icing on the cake was how Kaolin disrespected her by refusing a handshake, even if it did make a bit of sense for Kaolin to do so considering her infamous history.

Tails returned with a handful of napkins and parked himself back in his seat. "Aaaaand back. I come bearing articles of facial and hand-related cleanliness. Enjoy."

Kaolin giggled and plucked a napkin for the small stack. "And I offer many thanks for your kind deed, good sir."

Fiona could hardly stand it. It was disgustingly cute. All it took to push her over the limit was them sharing a quick kiss on the lips before resuming their meal, and she successively stood, bid them a good meal, and retreated to another table closer to the alcoholic beverage section.

Tails gave a satisfied smile and spoke in a low mumble. "Mission complete. What did she say, by the way?"

"All she did was complement us and then kept silent after I told her how good our relationship is." She took a few more bites and finished a slice of pizza.

"Good. She gets the point, then."

Kaolin pursed her lips slightly. "Let's hope so. I got a rather disconcerting vibe from her."

"We should stay alert then, just in case she tries something...drastic."

"Do you think she would?"

Tails sipped his drink. "I don't know, which is the problem. She says she's changed, but I don't know that for a fact."

A nod followed, and Kaolin started on another slice of pizza.

A few moments later, their comms buzzed vigorously with various levels of vibration. They snatched them from their belts with haste, as such activity denoted dire emergency. There was a message scrolling across the screens detailing the discovery of a murdered guard in a fairly remote section of the complex. He had died from a knife wound to the heart, dealt about five to seven minutes prior.

Tails frowned. "Wonderful, the suspect could be anywhere. Might be an assassin. We need to get moving."

He and his wife promptly stood and drew their pistols, an action that attracted Fiona's attention and incited her to do the same. The couple sprinted through the doorway with Fiona in tow.

Fiona had no idea what was going on, but whatever it was, it deviated from the boredom of sitting in that cafeteria. _Maybe I'll get to kill someone or something...ugh, Kaolin's butt is so big from this angle. How can Tails deal with that?_ The crimson fox shouted ahead. "What's the situation?"

Tails looked back over his shoulder at her. "We got an intruder, possible assassin!" He then dialed NICOLE's channel and spoke into the comm. "Nikky, any idea where the culprit could be?"

The artificially-intelligent program responded with a rather urgent tone. "Negative, but I have a list of places he or she could be heading. The closest one to your position is Sonic's room, but that has already been locked-down. Faction officials are scrambling to their saferooms. They are not taking any chances. Keep a lookout for ANYTHING suspicious."

"Got it." He put the device back on his belt and looked at his wife. "'Lin, we should head to the infirmary first. It could be that the killer wants to take advantage of Sonic's condition."

"In that case, we should look for someone suspicious in a medical outfit."

"Good thinking." A few seconds passed before he continued speaking. "Hey, how's your leg doing?"

"Eh, I'll live."

Every other step that Kaolin took brought pain to the surgical site of her right leg, especially where the electrodes were connected to the nerves. It was dull enough to allow her to keep running, but it still showed in the face and caused her to limp slightly. Additionally, it was very awkward to be without the familiar feeling of an organic leg. Her new one would certainly take some getting used to.

Suddenly, a short ursine medical assistant sped from around a corner and almost tripped the vulpine couple. Fiona immediately aimed her gun, but lowered it when he flung his arms into the air and proclaimed his innocence.

"What's your business here, punk?" Fiona blurted the question with a venomous tone.

Astonished, Tails looked at her with a concerned expression. "No need for the tone, Fiona. I've seen this guy before."

"GUYS, I found...I found my supervisor in the bathroom. He's dead." A tear ran down the bear's muzzle as he spoke.

"Who was he assigned to?"

"S-Sonic."

Tails practically plowed over the assistant as he and the others raced to Sonic's room in panicked, wide-eyed haste. _I hope we're not too late!_

--

Within the front half of Sonic's partitioned medical room stood a red cat and a tan rabbit, both clad in the typical white medical garb. The rabbit, a thirty-something female named Savannah, had come to replace the Human male who had been there two minutes before. Her colleague was Chuck, a grayish raccoon in his early forties who had been chosen to replace the aardvark, but he didn't make it out of the bathroom and was instead substituted with Mason, the red feline. The claim was that the raccoon had been called to another room to look over some test results on another patient and chose the cat as a last minute stand-in.

Savannah adjusted her jacket and looked at her new associate with kind eyes. "Okay, Mason, before Chuck gets back, I'd like you to help me with going over some status sheets so we can see where to go with the blue guy."

Mason nodded. "Sure thing, 'Annah." He then carried a small black bag with him as he accompanied her into the second half of the room. A mild grin appeared on the right side of his mouth, baring part of a fang. He was almost there.

The sound of medical equipment danced through the air as Savannah walked over to the end of Sonic's bed and grabbed a stat sheet. She then compared it to an updated version and examined it closely. Meanwhile, Mason was digging through his bag and retrieved a small rectangular box, which he opened to reveal a set of syringes filled with a peculiar clear substance.

The comm device in Savannah's left jacket pocket began buzzing angrily, much to her confusion. This caught Mason's attention, so he quickly snapped the box shut and put it away, then grabbed a razor-sharp knife made of a type of resin rather than metal.

She looked at the message and tilted her head, one ear falling to the side. "Mason, this message says a guard was found dead a few minutes ago."

He smiled and positioned the knife being held in his hand to a more battle-ready angle. "Did they, now?"

The locks within the outer door snapped shut, and Savannah continued. "Yes, and it says to be very cautious...though hearing how we were just locked in, I suppose we don't have that much to worry about. I tell ya, this war can be so unnerving." Her voice trailed off when she thought of Mason's suspicious claim, and her blood instantly went cold. "You know, this data is odd...doesn't match up. I'm going to...call someone real quick."

_Great, I hadn't counted on being locked in. That mechanism wasn't in the blueprints._ Mason stood up with his hands behind his back. "Oh? Why not ask me? I'm a medical professional, I could help. Let me see."

He slowly approached her, causing her to become increasingly nervous. "Well, I..." Her broken voice gave away her fear even more, and her eyes started to dart back and forth as she tried to formulate an escape plan.

The cat quickly looked at Sonic and put on a false expression of surprise. "Is he supposed to be awake right now?"

Her attention was drawn away long enough to allow Mason to execute a dive. She moved to the side out of peripherally-incited impulse, allowing the knife to plunge down through her shoulder and into her chest cavity while his other hand missed her mouth—its purpose to keep her from screaming. The rabbit let out a deep, strained gasp, and Mason, irritated at the fact that he missed the more vital areas, jerked the knife out, cupped one hand over her mouth and stabbed her in the heart. Her back hit the wall behind her, and he allowed her to slowly slide to the floor as the life drained from her shocked, tear-filled eyes. Her sporadic twitching stopped after the few short seconds preceding her death.

Once he got his knife cleaned off, he snatched a syringe from the little box and walked to Sonic's bedside apace, ears perking occasionally from the sounds of people running past the outer door. He looked down at the comatose hedgehog and stuck the needle into his arm, then firmly injected the substance into him. The heart monitor starting beeping faster and erratically as the chemical traveled through Sonic's vascular system and attacked his heart, inciting cardiac arrest. Mason rushed to gather his things while the hedgehog convulsed violently and the systems blared, certain that someone was bound to notice. _Oh well, the vents will suffice as a means of escape. Great, forgot to turn off the heart monitor._

He nearly jumped out of his skin when the door to the hallway flew open—unlocked thanks to NICOLE's actions at Tails' request—revealing the three pistol-wielding foxes.

Mason scowled and scrambled out of view before any of them could notice him, then hid himself behind a large filing cabinet in the corner closest to the door. The trio ran inside, panic-stricken upon hearing the bloodcurdling noise of a flatlining heart monitor.

Tails' face was drenched with horror, and he only felt worse when he saw Savannah's dead body. The front of her shirt was soaked with blood, and her expression was still frozen with fear and sadness.

The calmest of the three, Fiona rushed to his bedside and snatched a medical kit from her belt. An occasional twitch of his upper body had caught her attention. "I've seen this before. He was hit up with a cardiac arrest agent." She grabbed a syringe and a tiny bottle of anti-toxin. After filling the syringe, she stuck it into Sonic's arm and injected him, then vigorously pressed both hands against his chest in the hopes of getting the heartbeat restarted.

As Fiona worked, Tails and Kaolin looked around the room to see how the culprit could have escaped, guns aimed ahead. Mason silently crouched and rapidly pushed himself off the wall, sending himself toward a cabinet which he used as another pushpoint to propel himself into Tails and Kaolin. He tripped them both and sped away in a zig-zagging manner, managing to dodge the resulting gunfire before reaching the front door, where he was hit in the shoulder by a hot bullet before escaping into the hall.

The two wasted no time in bolting out of the room in pursuit of the murderer.

Mason continued sprinting along in an erratic path made possible by his high-grip shoes, narrowly dodging even more rounds. He snagged tables and other large objects that were occasionally found along the walls and sent them into the center of the hallway, hoping to trip his pursuers. Ironically, he stumbled as a result of doing so, allowing just enough time for Tails to aim and blow out one of his knees.

The cat howled in pain moments before his was tackled to the floor by both Tails and Kaolin—the former of the two pressed his pistol against the cat's arm on the opposite side of the elbow and held it there.

"Big BIG mistake, buddy. You killed a respected doctor as well as at least two others, and you tried to kill Sonic."

Mason laughed. "TRIED? Sonic's dead, man."

Tails almost pulled the trigger—he wanted to, but it wasn't needed at the moment. "We'll see how the anti-toxin handles him. If he stays dead, I'll make you wish you were."

They jerked him up off the floor and bound his hands. Once a small group of soldiers came to aid them, the two ran back to Sonic's room, praying that he was alright.

To their delight, they heard the heart monitor beeping normally, and Fiona was standing next to the bed messing with her medical kit.

In tears, Kaolin looked at Sonic and said "Thank God," then shifted her gaze to Fiona. "How did you know you'd need that? What I mean is..."

The crimson vixen smiled in a fairly complacent manner and cut her off. "A mercenary must always be prepared. I have antidotes for a lot of things...and please, call me Fiona."

Kaolin ignored her sarcasm and grinned, then looked at Sonic again. Tails approached her from the side and grabbed her right hand with his left, and the two lovingly stared into each other's eyes before looking at their comatose friend together, joyful that he had been revived.

--

Author's notes: Thank you again for reading, and please review! Keep an eye open for Chapter Thirteen, coming soon!

--  
Canon Sonic characters and places © Sonic Team, Sega  
Kaolin, story, other original characters, countries and organizations, etc © NuclearCookout


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter Thirteen

_SPLAT._

Tails cleaned the bits of fruit off his face and cybersuit after testing his new power gauntlet by squeezing an orange. _Hurr, should'a seen that one coming. Gotta not misplace that decimal point._ He corrected the error on his computer screen, and the gauntlet was updated instantly through the wires connecting it to the system. It appeared to be nothing more than a black glove with a cuff extending up most of his forearm, but the power it bestowed made it far different. He picked an apple from the fruit basket on the table next to him and cautiously applied pressure, then smiled when it didn't explode. The smile grew after he flexed his fingers a few times—the movements were smooth and, well, normal. He had his hand back.

A smiling Kaolin poked her head in through the ceiling entrance of Tails' underground workroom, hair cascading down like a silky waterfall. "How's it coming, Tai'?"

His grin increased further, then transformed into a mischievous smirk as he looked back over his shoulder at her. "Come see."

The ashen fox climbed down the ladder and walked over to her husband's workspace, occasionally glancing at the other things that lay about. She wanted to stop and stare at some of them—Tails' inventions always intrigued her, but she kept walking, mind set on seeing his latest work.

He stood from his chair and turned toward her, eyes brimming with happiness. "My glove thingy works—eh, gauntlet. I kinda messed up a setting a few moments ago, which explains the mess, but it's good now."

"Lemme see." Kaolin daintily grabbed his right hand and looked it over. "Looks like a long glove. Inconspicuous. Nice. I like it."

Tails nodded. "Also, there's something else I must test. See that thing behind you?"

Kaolin turned around and unknowingly allowed Tails to goose her curvy posterior with his right hand, causing her to jump with a 'yip'.

"Yep, works."

"Ooooh, you silly!" She promptly goosed him back.

They ran around the room poking and pinching each other for almost a minute before Tails grabbed her by the hand and gently pulled her toward him. Upon chest-to-chest contact, they wrapped their arms around the small of the other's back and stared deeply into the other's eyes, then moved closer for a passionate kiss. The passion gradually intensified to the point where they were kissing more vigorously and feeling each other over, hearts pulsing faster and harder and breaths becoming more rushed.

"'Lin, you thinking what I'm thinking?"

She responded softly, almost in a whisper. "You know it, baby..."—Kiss—"but you know we have things to do. New guns, defenses, stuff. And more stuff."—Kiss—"We can do it later."

Tails ran his hands up under her shirt and to her upper back. He really wanted to make the most of the moment, but he considered her words. "Aww, but we're practically on fire."—Kiss—"I suppose you're right, though. NICOLE did say the gun prototype is mere minutes away..."—Kiss—"from being ready."

She looked up at him with her big, soul-piercing blue eyes. "Then let's go before we let this moment get any crazier."

The two reluctantly released themselves from their tender embrace and allowed their composure to slowly return. Kaolin adjusted her disheveled clothing, then made her way up the ladder and out of the room.

"I'll be up in a moment, 'Lin."

Tails stayed behind for about a minute and typed a few things into his computer, then saved the progress of various applications. Once that was done, he put the systems on standby and climbed out of the room, turning off the lights by flicking some switches on the edge of the entrance seconds after.

As he walked down one of the many halls in the direction of the Research and Development section of the complex, he mentally went over what had gone on since Sonic's assassination attempt. From what the doctors said, Sonic would be alright, though he would be more closely watched, not only for health reasons, but for protection. The culprit had been taken into interrogation after getting his knee patched up. _He's probably getting what-for right now._ Tails actually wanted to carry out the interrogation himself, but he was so filled with livid rage at the guy that he thought he might lose control and kill him. Such an occurrence would be undesirable considering they wanted to find out why he was there, where he came from, and if there was anyone else involved. _Once they milk him for what he's worth, I'll probably kill him anyway._ He blinked in surprise when he realized what he had said in his mind._ Wait, no. I can't think that way. That isn't me._ The bitter streak in his heart had progressed ever so slightly further.

What bothered him possibly more than the fact that Mason had attempted murder on Sonic was how he slaughtered Savannah in cold blood. She had been a very valuable part of the base's medical team. Everyone loved her—she had a winning attitude, an almost perpetual smile, and knew how to deal with people both medically and psychologically. She would be sorely missed.

A gunshot and a shout resounded through a different hallway, and the sound of hurried footsteps could be heard. Tails placed his hand on his holstered gun, unlatched the keeper and turned around to face the direction of the commotion, ears perked. The alarms began to sound, and that's when he yanked his gun out, switched off the safety and aimed in front of him.

Around the corner of a four-way junction sped Mason, covered in blood and holding an equally bloody pistol. His eyes widened when he saw Tails standing there with his gun aimed and stopped immediately, almost tripping.

"Mason, drop the gun, get your hands on your head and get on the floor NOW!" _Don't pull the trigger yet. I need to know if they got any info from him. How in the world was he running, anyway? I blew his knee out earlier!_

The red cat scowled and hollered an explicit insult before calling him a genetic freak. He quickly darted to the side, shot at Tails and sped back toward the intersection in a zigzagging run. One of the bullets grazed Tails' left upper arm, dealing no damage because of his cybersuit and inciting him to return fire while taking cover. At the same time, Kaolin came speeding in behind Tails with her gun drawn.

"Tails! What happened? Are you okay?" She immediately hid behind a crate as a bullet whizzed past her leg.

"Got a runner! It's the guy who tried to off Sonic!"

As the cat turned to run down another hallway, a bullet from a different gun penetrated his abdomen and exited his back, causing a small spray of blood to sail through the air. More bullets followed, and the cat fell backwards and came to rest on the reddened floor, mouth agape and eyes wide with shock—lifeless.

Astonished, Tails ran to the downed feline with Kaolin in tow. Fiona walked up to him from a different passage, holding a gun that was still smoking.

He looked at her with an expression exuding utter shock. "Fiona, what...why did you kill him? You could'a sho-..."

The crimson fox blew the wispy smoke away from the hot barrel of her gun and holstered it, then cut him off in a snappy tone. "_No_, he was no longer of use. They got the information they needed. It was a kill-on-sight order after he escaped. I don't know how many people he killed on his way out, maybe three, but it was enough to make them decide that they didn't want to take any more chances with him."

"That doesn't make sense. They could have said to incapacitate him. That's what they always do."

"They said to kill him, Tails, that's all I heard. You can drop the issue now because it's over. I'm going for a drink" She looked down at the dead cat and huffed, then shot an irritated glance at Tails and an icy one at Kaolin before walking off.

That answer wasn't good enough for him, and it added to his and Kaolin's growing suspicion of how she knew which antidote to use on Sonic with naught but a quick look-over. They watched as she spoke to one of the people who had come running to the scene before turning down another hall.

"Odd."

Tails nodded slowly. "Very odd."

"Also odd was the look she just gave me."

"I noticed. Like I said before, be on guard."

"Got the feeling I have that this goes deeper than her words?"

"Indubitably."

As they rushed to confront her, Tails' communicator beeped. He plucked it from his belt and saw that it was a message from NICOLE stating that the gun prototype was ready.

Kaolin looked over at her husband. "What's up, hon?"

"The gun's ready. NICOLE wants me to come see it as soon as possible, and I don't blame her considering the threat of attack at any given moment."

The two slowed to a stop, and Kaolin looked at him again, but with a more curious expression. "Should I go after her alone or go with you?"

"You going after her alone would possibly be bad, especially if she's going to feel that you're personally trying to discredit her. I say we let it lie for now and get to it later when we can be together."

Kaolin nodded with mild hesitance that grew into confidence. "Okay."

With some reluctance, they both turned around and made their way to the Research and Development section of the complex. They wanted very much to get to the bottom of what they saw as outright deception from Fiona, but inspecting a new means of defeating the Xenith robots was far more pertinent.

--

Author's notes: This took longer and was shorter than expected. Lots of distractions. The next one will probably be much longer. Thank you again for reading, and please review! Keep an eye open for Chapter Fourteen!

--  
Canon Sonic characters and places © Sonic Team, Sega  
Kaolin, story, other original characters, countries and organizations, etc © NuclearCookout


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter Fourteen

The Xenith collapsed to the floor with a loud 'thud' a moment after Tails fired the channeled sound weapon at it. The device, no larger than an average submachine gun, made a buzzing noise as it recharged itself within two seconds.

A smile appeared on NICOLE's holographic face as she stood next to him, hands clasped behind her back. "It appears your adjustments worked well, Tails. I believe it is ready for mass production and distribution. I am now using your data to modify the coding in the larger versions. The first of the turret models will be mounted around the base within the hour. It may take a little longer to retrofit all of the aircraft, but I have given the go-ahead to the technician drones, and the fighters belonging to you and Kaolin will be the first."

The news brought a particularly strong sense of satisfaction to those present. Another ray of hope had broken through the paste gray clouds of despondency.

To Tails' back-left stood Kaolin, who was far from reluctant in expressing her approval. "This is great! Good job!"

Standing to Tails' back-right was Jessica Drasco, who had practically begged to be allowed to see the unveiling of the new gun even though she was more than welcome to. Her father would have accompanied her, but he was preoccupied with his usual business of conversing with his officers.

She smirked in a way that portrayed deep confidence, and she planted a hand on her left hip and flicked her slender tail slightly. "Good work, Tails. I'm gonna have fun using that if the Xeniths attack again."

Tails glanced over the lifeless heap of metal and gave a smile, followed by a nod. "Thanks. I am also looking forward to testing these on the real thing. Once the aircraft are done, we should think about hunting down any and every Xenith we find."

"Total agreement here." Kaolin walked up to him and placed a hand on his left shoulder, inciting Tails to wrap his left arm around the small of her back.

"Well, that was fun. 'Lin and I are going to, eh, meet someone."

"We certainly are." There was an insidious glint in Kaolin's eye.

After handing NICOLE the gun, the two walked out the door and made their way to the cafeteria. Thoughts of how to handle the upcoming situation ran through both of their minds as they went, causing a variety of emotions ranging from sureness to outright concern.

Tails eventually decided upon one and glanced to his wife beside him. "Here's the plan, 'Lin. Once we walk in, I want you to go around and head to Fiona's position from a direction opposite of mine. We need to be on either side of her to prevent any possibility of escape. Have your gun ready, but not drawn, and don't stand too close to her; it'd give room for a knifing or a quick shot."

The thought of shooting first and asking questions later had crossed Kaolin's mind instead, but she nodded her agreement. "Sounds good."

Tails chuckled with a smile. "You probably wanted to shoot first and as-..."

She cut him off while grinning. "Ask questions later. You sure know me, hon. I really don't respect people like her."

"Yes, but we must also consider her training. It would probably give her an excuse to retaliate, and it might not be easy to fight her off."

"Right." Kaolin clenched a fist. "Let's hope this goes smoothly."

They passed through the cafeteria's double doors and split paths once they saw Fiona sitting at the bar area. Tails hung left while Kaolin hung right, and the two met with Fiona in the center of them, making sure to keep a good five feet of distance from her.

The crimson fox pinned her ears back slightly when she saw them—a sign of irritation—and set her drink down, continuing to gaze forward. "Let me guess. My answer didn't sit well with you."

"No it didn't, Fiona. I know the protocols, and that's to incapacitate an escapee, not perforate them, even if they've killed people along the way. Why did you see it fit to kill Mason?"

She glanced at Kaolin briefly before sighing and giving a response. "I suppose there's no use in hiding it. I killed him to shut him up because we've worked together before. This is how I knew exactly which anti-toxin to use on Sonic. He had all of the telltale signs of Mason's poison of choice—that cardiac arrest agent. I've come across it before, and Mason's subsequent presence only reaffirmed my beliefs. I got nervous when he was taken in, but luckily—and I had no hand in it—he escaped."

Kaolin narrowed her eyes a bit. "No hand in his escape. You expect us to buy that?"

"Of course not. It was too perfect, but it also makes sense. He's a professional escape artist. I'm sure he had some sort of cybernetic implant in his wrist that he used to cut his bindings. It's not beyond him."

Tails and Kaolin locked eyes for a moment, still skeptical, and Tails spoke next. "Yeah, it was too perfect. NICOLE told me of the results. They got a good amount of info out of him, but before they could ask about his past associates, he got loose, snapped a guy's neck, took his gun and shot a few others before bolting out the door."

Fiona grinned. "Luck really was on my side, then." She took a quick sip of her drink and barely noticed Tails' expression turn sour in her peripheral vision. "Just wait, the coroner will find a cybernetic implant in his wrist and confirm what I'm saying. He's used implants before. This is probably how he was able to walk with his knee injury as though he hadn't been shot at all." She glanced at Tails with a raised eyebrow. "Am I making sense now?"

The vulpine couple looked at each other again. Skepticism remained, but it had lessened considerably.

Fiona looked back at her drink. "Besides, if I wanted Sonic dead, I would have _left_ him dead as opposed to reviving him. I _used to_ want Sonic dead, admittedly, but I don't care anymore. What's past is past. I have bigger fish to fry."

Tails cringed almost unnoticeably. _Either she's a lot slipperier than first thought or she really is innocent._ "Alright, I'll give you that, but we'll have to let the others know of your initial deception."

"I can live with that. I panicked when I shouldn't have, and I am prepared to deal with the consequences." She took another swig of her beverage amidst the mildly shocked expressions of the two Prowers standing on either side of her. "This reminds me,"—She looked at Kaolin—"I'd like to apologize for my coldness toward you. If it wasn't already obvious enough, I was and am still jealous of your relationship with Miles. Don't think that I am trying to get in-between you two. I am still trudging through the murky waters of loneliness, and when I see you two together, it just bothers me. So, if I come across as bitter, please ignore me. I am trying to quell those feelings, and I hope we can enjoy a more agreeable, if not friendly standing in the near future."

The sheer bluntness of the comment hit both of them like a brick.

Kaolin blinked and almost didn't say anything, and it took her a few moments to gather herself. "Well...that's...good to know. Happy to hear you say that. I also hope we can have a good standing."

Tails, too, was awestruck almost to the point of speechlessness. "Yeah, I was worried there for awhile. Good to know."

Fiona took another swig of her beer, and what faintly resembled a smile quickly vanished. "Yes yes. This is getting a tad too cozy—I'm still a bitter little [expletive], so don't push it."

The two promptly walked off without further discourse. Both were fairly nonplussed, but the outcome was at least mildly comforting. Tails' expression was slightly less relaxed than his wife's; he had expected flat-out deceit and possible physical action, but he was truly thrown aback by her calm openness and subordination. It was what he had wanted to hear, but thought would never come. It seemed almost too good to be true.

"'Lin, your thoughts?"

Kaolin lightly pursed one side of her lips for a brief moment. "Satisfactory, but was it real?"

"My thoughts exactly, though she did make good points. She really could have allowed Sonic to die, or even killed us in the process." He rubbed his right temple. "Ah well. We'll divulge all of this to the investigation team and then head on over to the lounge."

Before Kaolin could answer, the sound of jogging footsteps began to echo behind him, accompanied by a soft feminine voice with a slight Southern accent. "Tails! Hold up!"

The golden-orange fox stopped and looked back to see Jessica trying to catch up. "Oh, hey Jessica!"

The black-striped, sky blue cat approached them with a cheerful expression. "Sorry for bothering you, but I wanted to talk about how you got the gun to work better."

Tails' lackluster and rather puzzled mien immediately brightened—there was always time for techspeak. "Not a problem, I'll be happy to!"

The two got into a lively discussion filled with a variety of words that simply went over Kaolin's head like a high-flying bird. Even if she did understand it all, she probably wouldn't have been able to get a word in edgewise. She watched as they conversed and gradually left her behind, laughing occasionally at some obscure and overly technical joke that most beings in existence probably lacked the capability of understanding.

Tails stopped as they missed their turn to make their report, and he looked back at Kaolin and queried as to why she was all the way back there. She flashed a forced smile and said nothing as she shrugged.

After making their report, they went over to the lounge; again, Kaolin was left behind to watch them converse merrily amongst themselves. The fact that they got along so well and so fast made her rather uneasy—indeed, there was a little more than an iota of jealousy in the back of her mind. Though she felt overlooked, she figured it would blow over and they'd get to spend some time together. She spotted a nice cozy place in the corner of a large couch that would make a perfect place to cuddle with him, and she made her way over and plopped down on the overstuffed cushion with the hope that he would notice. To her dismay, the two sat at a vacant card table positioned about ten feet behind the couch and continued along in their technobabble.

A good thirty minutes passed, and Tails was still chatting with Jessica at that card table. He suddenly stopped and looked around, having just noticed that Kaolin wasn't there. In fact, she wasn't even in view.

Tails thanked Jessica for the edifying conversation, then stood and walked around the room. He found that his wife had slid down into the corner of the couch and had just fallen asleep, arms crossed over her abdomen. Another insidious smirk showed itself on his face, and he knelt down beside her and ran a finger across her neck. The action prompted a light giggle and a quick swat to the hand.

As she opened her big blue eyes, he tilted her up off the seat cushion and squeezed his way in behind her, allowing her upper back and head to rest upon his chest. He then wrapped his arms around her middle and laid his hands on hers. "Sorry that took so long. It was rather thoughtless of me to leave ya hangin'. I just don't find people who like what I like with such a passion, so it's fun to talk and share ideas. She's like the cheerful techie sister I never had."

Hearing him say "sister" assuaged the small amount of residual jealousy that was still clinging to her, and her smile grew. "Glad to hear it, hon." She reached up and lovingly stroked his face with her right hand.

Roughly five minutes later, Jessica's communicator buzzed with a noise signifying a phone call. She answered it, and soon displayed a look of utter horror when she received some truly startling news. She sprang up from her chair and practically rammed into the couch, almost sending Tails and Kaolin off of it. "Tails! My father's base is under heavy attack! I have to go!"

Tails' eyes widened. "By who?"

"Xeniths! Hordes of them!"

--

Author's notes: Massive action coming up. Thank you again for reading, and please review! Keep an eye open for Chapter Fifteen!

--  
Canon Sonic characters and places © Sonic Team, Sega  
Kaolin, story, other original characters, countries and organizations, etc © NuclearCookout


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter Fifteen

The canopy slid over Tails' helmeted head after he began the startup procedures of his aircraft. Chirps and beeps sounded briefly as the systems activated, and the hum of the engines resonated throughout the small cockpit. As a stream of text showing diagnostics scrolled up the main screen, he smiled when he noticed a new line showing the presence of the channeled sound weapon mounted beneath the nose of his jet, inset partially.

The device was fairly nondescript, having an elongated cylindrical shape with a rounded tip which made it appear to be some sort of sensory boom. The notable feature was the specialized multi-directional aperture on the tip that allowed the computer to track any target without the pilot having to keep a straight lock on, which was highly difficult to do when pursuing the frighteningly agile Xeniths. All one had to do was keep their targets within their general field of vision and press the pretty red firing trigger.

Tails turned his head to the side toward his wife, whose new ship was parked adjacent to his. He watched as she quickly started it up, then looked over and waved at him, prompting him to reciprocate the action with an unnoticed but assumed smile. _You be careful out there, Kaolin. I don't want to lose you again._

Amy also waved at him as she sped to her fighter. The pink hedgehog had recovered from her injuries quickly, much to the delight of everyone, and her will to fight had increased almost two-fold.

What surprised him was the sight of Sally heading to her aircraft. He thought the severe bruising she had received would've kept her out of action for a bit longer, but then he realized one important and inherent fact: it was Sally. She was a resilient fighter and didn't like to sit things out for too long.

Shortly after Oryn and other UCH operatives took off, Tails and Kaolin maneuvered their jets out of the hangar with their vertical thrusters, stirring the small amount of airborne dust kicked up by others who had gone before them, then arrowed away once they were in the clear.

A message from NICOLE urged them to make haste, as the Drasco Mercenary Collective base had already suffered substantial damage, and Eddy was concerned an evacuation order might need to be issued very soon. At the speed they were going, it would take a little over three-and-a-half minutes to travel the roughly fifty-five mile journey north-northwest to the beleaguered base, and though it was a relatively short amount of time, each and every second counted.

Tails punched a button on the comm. "Guys, even though we have a fantastic new weapon, we need to fly as though it isn't there. These things are still extremely dangerous."

A mix of various responses came, mostly acknowledgements, and some sounded more confident than others. The fact that there was even a hint of a lack of confidence amongst his associates was troubling to him.

About thirty seconds later, NICOLE issued another statement, and it was with an even more urgent tone. "Alert! The DraMerCo base has fallen completely. The survivors are currently on the way to our base and are being pursued. Your next objective is to protect the five battlecruisers and three armored transports."

The news came as a bit of a surprise—DraMerCo was said to have a very protected base with ample defense turrets, drones and pilots. If it fell _that_ fast, Tails figured they might be in for a truly difficult battle, even with their new weaponry.

"I would recommend utilizing heightened caution, as my scanners are picking up at least one hundred enemy units."

Tails cocked a brow and widened his eyes slightly. "Good grief, that many?"

"At least that. There are probably more considering unusual signal disruptions."

_I hope this doesn't turn out poorly. _"How many of us are there?"

"Thirty-eight, not counting the sixteen DraMerCo fighters and lone battlecruiser departing from our base. As for the fighters that made it out of their base, two-hundred forty-nine, but those numbers are dropping rather quickly."

"Alright. What's the ETA?"

"Sixty-five seconds as of...now."

Tails squirmed uneasily in his seat. _Only sixty-five seconds to prepare for chaos._

Silence prevailed for most of the journey, and was broken when the proximity alarms sounded with ten seconds remaining. The noise caused everyone's nerves to tighten; some of them even jolted slightly.

The besieged convoy quickly came into view, and the sight startled everyone who laid eyes upon it. What appeared to be an elongated black cloud filled with streams of luminous rain was orbiting the speeding battlecruisers, disrupted occasionally by intermittent explosions. One cruiser in particular was covered in Xeniths that were pounding and cutting their way into the stoutly armored hull, and fires could be seen spreading across it from the various flaming holes dotting its surface.

Tails and a few others were speechless, and those who weren't uttered some rather indelicate words across the main communication channel.

"NICOLE, I think your miscalculation was kinda big. I estimate around five-hundred."

Kaolin flexed her cybernetic toes inside of her right boot and tried to keep a calm face, though a frown still broke through. She had to really watch it that time, otherwise another Avondale incident could occur, or possibly worse.

All it took was for a single Xenith to notice the incoming craft, and a portion of the units that were still in their skyfaring forms broke from their courses and swarmed toward the intruders like a vast wave of metal.

Sally was having trouble keeping her jet stable as her hands were shaking vigorously, but she remained steadfast. "Press forward! Do not show weakness!" _I hope these new weapons work, otherwise we're all dead._

The allied fighters broke formation as a bright salvo of bullets cascaded from the huge, dark, shifting mass.

Amy was the first to fire her channeled sound weapon, and the target immediately lost altitude and crashed into a hill, exploding as a result. Spirits brightened, she proceeded to pick more of them off, one by one. After destroying her fifteenth Xenith, one of them got on her tail and spewed hot ammunition into her path, hitting the port-center side of the fuselage and prompting evasive maneuvers.

Nearby, Oryn's battle was more intense than Amy's in that he was being followed closely by three Xeniths and having difficulty shaking them. Rear-fired missiles were dodged and evasions, including more advanced evasions, were countered with precise movements. He rolled to starboard and ascended sharply, then pulled back further and did a wide loop that took him on a course only a few feet off the ground. He leveled out and shoved the throttle forward, quickly surpassing the speed of sound. The shock from doing so kicked up a large amount of debris that found its way into the engines of his pursuers and dropped them from the air, each one shredding into a shower of flaming pieces on the abrasive landscape. He then chopped the stick back and to the left, then held a sharp port turn with the left wing almost perpendicular to the ground a few moments before leveling again and firing his new weapon at a few other Xeniths that had taken an interest in him, swiftly defeating each. _I love this new gun._

Kaolin was actually enjoying herself—the effectiveness of the new weapon spurred the confidence she needed to stay calm and focused. With each kill, her confidence grew, and seeing others succeeding in doing their part made it even better. However, her calm began to decrease when she noticed Elias' ship being swarmed by a particularly high number of Xeniths.

The leader of the New Lubbock Freedom Fighters executed maneuvers rivaling the skill of Oryn and a few others, but was unable to shake the enemy units on his tail.

"This is Elias Acorn, requesting assistance! Being swarmed here!"

Various ships came to his aid and managed to deactivate all but one of the Xeniths assaulting him, which darted right over him, switched into its bipedal mode and landed on top of his craft, then laid itself flat and plowed its arms through the wings before also being deactivated by a concentrated sound beam. Elias struggled to keep from careening out of control as he tried to shake the thing loose, but it had positioned itself in a manner that kept it firmly attached. He sent another distress call before another Xenith repeated the process of a jet-to-mech-mode attack and wrapped itself around the frontal portion of his jet, partially covering the canopy and preventing him from ejecting. The extra weight proved too much for the small ship to handle, and it began to rapidly lose altitude.

"Mayday! Mayday! I am going down! The Xeniths have a new attack: swarming and attaching to th-..."

His comm went to static as his jet exploded upon slamming into the ground. The remaining Xeniths utilized the information from their fallen comrades, and other pilots gradually began to fall prey to the enemy's new tactic.

Grief was a gross understatement of what Sally felt when she witnessed the death of her brother. "ELIAS!"

Tails, too, was greatly distraught, but he suppressed his emotions and quickly got onto the comm. "All pilots, be aware that the Xeniths have apparently learned a new tactic. Do not let them get close to you!" He gave a morose frown. _Rest in peace, fellow Freedom Fighter._

One of the more heavily damaged battlecruisers started to tilt to starboard as its gravity repulsors began to give out. The copious amount of smoke emanating from it stretched far behind like a dark comet tail. The captain of the doomed vessel warned the others to back away because of the probability that the reactors would go critical.

"We're losing one!" Sally's voice sounded almost tortured due to her broken emotional state.

The large ship began spewing escape pods before its engines exploded, creating a bright, fiery starburst that tore open most of the stern and sent large chunks of debris sailing. The rest of the ship promptly capsized, then broke apart and exploded upon colliding with the ground. The fact that it was traveling at hundreds of miles per hour gave the resulting debris the momentum it needed to scatter across a large swath of land and careen into the battlespace, hitting various ships, friend and enemy alike.

Tails spoke in a much more collected and confident voice. "Keep at it! We've taken down over half of them!"

A Xenith got onto Sally's tail as she struggled to stay focused. Elias' demise hit her like a truck; it was something she just hadn't prepared to handle, partially because she didn't think it _could_ happen considering his skills. Additionally, she knew better than to let such things get to her, especially in situations that demanded her utmost attention. Despite her efforts to suppress her emotions, a toll was taken on her ability to concentrate.

The flying robot sprayed a hailstorm of glowing bullets as it bobbed, turned, and strafed in an effort to keep its speeding target in its crosshairs. A group of bullets hit every few seconds, and more and more alarms began to sound as her ship was gradually perforated. She dove down, then sharply ascended a few moments later and turned to starboard, rolling and flying as erratically as she could. The sudden movements and corresponding g-forces not only messed with her equilibrium, her damaged jet began to creak and pop as the stress worsened the cracks that were present, mainly in the wings.

Kaolin darted in and took the Xenith down a fraction of a second before it got the chance to fire a highly explosive flak missile. Once Sally discovered what had happened, she breathed a sigh of relief and flew outside of the battle area so her jet's autorepair system could do its job more efficiently.

Another battlecruiser began showing signs of imminent system failure. Most of the remaining Xeniths—about seventy-five in total—were focusing their firepower and other destructive capabilities on the bady damaged vessel in the hopes of taking at least one more ship down before their defeat.

The captain's distress signal prompted Tails to speak over the comm again. "Try to focus your fire on the Xeniths swarming that cruiser! We don't need to lose another!"

As the fighters broke away from their previous engagements, nearly all of the Xeniths on the embattled cruiser suddenly began dropping like flies at a much faster rate than had been anticipated to occur from the added aerial support. It didn't take long for everyone to notice another battlecruiser swinging in from behind, along with over a dozen of other fighters.

"This is the _Avenger of Station Square_ coming to assist!"

The rough voice was that of Eddy Drasco, who was at the helm of the large war vessel. The ship had been fitted with various channeled sound weapons which it used to great efficiency. It didn't take long for each and every Xenith to be destroyed by the staggering amount of firepower.

Tails grinned beneath his helmet. "Glad to see ya here, sir. You got here in the nick of time."

The _Avenger_ and its fighters subsequently escorted the convoy to the Freedom Fighters' base without further incident. It was a much needed breath of fresh air for all of the pilots and crewmembers.

--

Author's notes: Thank you again for reading, and please review! Keep an eye open for Chapter Sixteen!

--  
Canon Sonic characters and places © Sonic Team, Sega  
Kaolin, story, and other original content © NuclearCookout


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter Sixteen

Kaolin consolingly rubbed Sally on the shoulder as the former princess sat on one of the couches in the lounge. Tears streamed down her face as she wept bitterly, and those around her couldn't help but cry as well. A picture of her fallen brother lay on the floor next to her feet, wet with teardrops.

Her mind was flooded with memories of their history together, and as the thoughts progressed, her pain increased. To complicate things further, the event compounded to how her husband was almost killed not only once, but twice in a rather short amount of time.

Oryn was sitting in a corner with Aaron and Jack; his mouth was quivering as he tried to keep from crying. It wasn't because of the fact that Elias was dead, although it did contribute. He didn't know Elias that well, and he'd experienced many losses before without crying, including some very good friends. It was primarily from seeing Sally in such astounding emotional pain that made him want to break down and weep as well.

A few feet behind Kaolin was Tails, who stood somberly as a tear traveled down his muzzle every few seconds. His communicator suddenly began buzzing, inciting a startled jolt. Upon inspecting it, he saw a somewhat lengthy message from NICOLE divulging information about Mason's autopsy. Apparently, the medical examiner found a retractable cybernetic cutting device embedded in Mason's wrist. Fiona was there as well, and she desired to speak with him.

He looked up at the others with a somewhat disappointed expression, made his departure known, then walked out into the maze of hallways and headed for the examination room.

_Perhaps Fiona failed to explain everything as thoroughly as she could have...or maybe she just wants an excuse to see me alone._

It didn't take him long to reach his destination, and air rushed in between his legs as he opened the heavy door. He was then met by a wall of cool air as he entered the largely white room. A medical assistant greeted him kindly and pointed him to the pertinent examination area.

Fiona turned her head toward the door as Tails walked in, and her mouth curled into a faint smile. "Good to see you here, Miles. I have something to show you."

"Ah yes, NICOLE told me, which puzzles me since you have the ability to communicate with me directly."

Her face became more stern, but not enough to garner much more of Tails' attention. "Well, I figured you would see more merit in NICOLE telling you since I haven't exactly displayed the most trustworthy attitude during my time here."

"I suppose that makes sense." He looked over at Mason's body, then back at Fiona. "Shall we?"

The crimson vixen nodded and led Tails over to the table. Once they donned medical gloves, she grabbed the deceased cat's left wrist and lifted it into view, then pointed to an almost unnoticeable slit with a small metal extension protruding from it. "This is a covert laser cutter, just as I predicted." There was hint of complacency in her tone, something Tails noticed immediately.

Tails reached over and wiggled it a bit, then felt along the wrist and rubbed the device's subcutaneous housing, all to make sure it wasn't just a prop. "Alright, you were right about that."

"That's not all, either." She pointed to a small hairless spot with a tattoo on Mason's upper arm. "That is the emblem of a faction that was once an ally of Ferox Mandatum. We did some missions together, and he used that cardiac arrest agent on some of his victims. I took note of the characteristics of the poison and made sure to have the antidote on my person in case he ever decided to betray us. Now do you believe me?"

Tails blinked. "I believed you before...well, more or less, but yes, I believe you. You don't need to doubt that." _I'm still keeping a healthy amount of wariness, though, just in case._

Fiona smiled. "Good. I just don't want there to be more distrust between us."

"Okay." He grinned, then looked to the side and back. "I'm heading back to the lounge now. Thanks for the info."

"I'm right behind you. I'd like to at least be present during Sally's time of grief."

Tails nodded once and made his way out with Fiona in tow. _She seems to be trying awfully hard to clear herself. It could be that she's trying to protect her innocence, and it could be that she's still hiding something, maybe even wanting to get us cozy before doing something undesirable._ He grinned slightly. _Whatever it is, I'll be prepared._

They made it to the lounge a few minutes later, but were fairly surprised to see that Sally wasn't there. The two were told shortly thereafter that Sally had gone to her room to gather herself.

Kaolin saw them enter and quickly got a sense of concern that Fiona might've been up to something else, although Tails didn't look too irritated. She smiled and waved at her husband, prompting him to smile back and walk over to her, leaving Fiona to herself.

Fiona stood there with a blank expression, unsure as to what her purpose for being in that room was since Sally was no longer present. She considered walking out and going to get a beer, but then she noticed Oryn finishing up a conversation with his brother Aaron, who was acting like he was about to go somewhere else. She smiled to one side and walked over once Aaron had left.

A few minutes passed before Tails noticed Fiona and Oryn talking. They seemed to be having a good time, which was another glimmer of relief for him because it kept her out of his hair. _That's a good girl, Fiona. Hit on someone your own age._

Nightfall came a few hours later, and most of the people who had been in the lounge had left to prepare for bed, something many of them desired from that exhausting day. In one of the many hallways crisscrossing the large complex, Tails and Kaolin were walking alongside each other, hand-in-hand, heading for their quarters.

"Fiona and Oryn seemed to hit it off pretty fast, eh 'Lin?" There was an air of both cheerfulness and concern in Tails' voice. "I'm fairly surprised since she kinda dissed him earlier."

Kaolin gave a faint chuckle. "Yeah. I just hope Oryn doesn't get burned. I wouldn't think Fiona would be a good person to hang around with."

"Me neither. In some ways I'm concerned she's just looking for someone to take advantage of, but maybe she is looking for a serious relationship."

The couple arrived at their door moments, and Tails fished the keys from his pocket. Kaolin looked at his battle-scarred face, eyelids slightly lowered. "How's the injury?"

Tails grinned and gazed into her eyes. "Feeling much better."

The alarms began to blare sounds denoting imminent danger right as Tails touched the door handle, and NICOLE's voice blurted a dire warning of a massive swarm of Xeniths coming from the northeast. Everyone immediately scrambled to the hangar or the nearest storage areas containing channeled sound weapons.

With Kaolin running alongside him, Tails plucked the communicator from his belt and called NICOLE. "Nikky, what's the ETA?"

"Three minutes. They are moving much faster than the others, so I would recommend greater haste. Additionally, I am picking up a different signature from this set. Use caution when dealing with them because something could very well have been changed in their programming."

"Got it." _What are you up to now, Robotnik?_

Along with many other pilots, Tails and Kaolin hopped into their jets and took off. The luminous beams from huge spotlights on the roof of the base could be seen scanning the star-studded skies. It didn't take much longer for the mass of Xeniths to come into view, shimmering like a diffuse cloud of diamonds because of the spotlights.

A holographic image of one of the units came up on each of the pilots' consoles, and much to their surprise, these Xeniths looked almost nothing like the others. They sported more wings, a somewhat insectoid and much more jagged overall appearance. A series of spikes jutted from behind the robots, surrounding each of the three engine thrusters and apparently serving the purpose of directing the exhaust along with the typical vectored thrust flaps.

Without further delay, Tails got one of them in his sights and fired his channeled sound weapon at it. His heart sank as his expectation of immediate deactivation was quickly disappointed when the attack had absolutely no effect.

Panic-stricken, he sent an alert to his fellow pilots. "Switch to conventional guns FAST, the sound weapons are useless!"

As soon as he sent the warning, the gigantic cluster of Xeniths diverged and traveled around the approaching ships without so much as a single shot or pursuit, further confusing the defenders who fired streams of glowing bullets into the mass of robots with no effect.

At that point, Tails' stomach was in a knot. "NICOLE, they're completely ignoring us and heading your way!"

"I noticed; it is very strange and discomforting. I am activating the stronger sound turrets to see if they will work." A short pause followed. "They are useless as well. Initiating standard autocannons and flak guns."

The base's powerful primary defenses sent bright ribbons of anti-aircraft shells into the cloud of Xeniths, which proceeded to circle the base like an ominous mesocyclone of a supercell thunderstorm. The cannons made a small amount of progress, taking down dozens of the airborne droids, but they were largely inefficient. The swirling mass then funneled downward like a vast metal tornado, causing many of the people inside to scramble underground since sound weapons and guns with standard bullets were essentially useless, deeming the standing of one's ground to be suicide. What appeared to be a grainy beam of energy suddenly burst from the tip of the funnel and illuminated the area around it as it hammered the roof, then fanned out to a conical shape as the cybernetic cyclone spread out from the bottom and began attacking other sections of the complex. Some stayed airborne while others transformed into multi-legged ground units and began cutting and tearing their way inside—the spikes surrounding their engines lost their rigidity and were used as instruments to aid in their actions.

The Xeniths closer to the top of the figurative storm cloud promptly engaged the fighters that were attacking them in futility. Many of the pilots were shot down almost immediately due to the sheer volume of energy slugs, and the others quickly broke from their attack courses and spread out.

Distress calls could be heard every few seconds from some unfortunate pilots who got swarmed by their pursuers, and amidst the blood-curdling sounds of panicked voices that were often followed by dead static, Tails could almost hear Robotnik's mocking laughter.

NICOLE stood within the main control room observing camera feeds from all around the base. Some cameras showed the events outside, from turrets being ripped from their pedestals to explosions stippling the dark skies and jets crashing into the ground, to DraMerCo battlecruisers being slowly disassembled as they spewed flak and missiles at the swarms of relentless cybernetic monsters attacking them. Others showed terrestrial Xeniths wreaking havoc amongst the hallways and rooms, riddling soldiers with white-hot bullets and even tearing some apart. Some were spreading fires while others scoured the area for computers they could siphon information from. She could hear the thumping and clanking of robotic parts overhead, as well as the buzzing and grinding of metal-cutters—a sign that the Xeniths were close to breaking into that very room, and that was one of the last steps to taking over the base's mainframe.

The holographic lynx closed her eyes briefly and gave an inaudible sigh. She looked at the main screen and pulled up an image of a barrel-shaped device just below the floor level in the center of the complex. It appeared to be a large upright pill covered with reflective glass plates, and it had numerous wires running from the bottom all the way to the reactors deep underground. A few lines of data sprang up in different windows, then quickly disappeared as they were replaced with a single larger window with a timer that showed ten seconds.

She sent out a message to all of the pilots instructing them to fly as high as possible and to have their ejection seats ready. She was about to use what was known as the Last Resort.

Moments after the message was sent, the Xenith nearest to her ripped a hole into the upper part of a wall and hopped in. It first approached the computer setup, then stopped and locked its optical sensors with hers.

As it slowly walked toward her, it spoke with a deep, reverberating voice. "NICOLE. It is good to finally meet you. Prepare for deactivation."

She gave an insidious grin. "Too bad our meeting has to be so ephemeral. Goodbye."

The Last Resort activated, and every Xenith near the base suddenly stopped, seized by bright blue filaments of energy before falling to the ground. The device had sent out a series of directed electromagnetic pulses with just enough power, as NICOLE had calculated, to penetrate the predicted magnetic shielding of the Xeniths and deactivate them. However, the pulses contained so much power that any aircraft that were even close to them were either damaged or deactivated as well. Another downside was that using the device drained most of the base's reactors' power, leaving just enough for lighting and essential processes until they could reset and resume their previous output levels, and that took some time for them to accomplish.

Numerous pilots floated down with their parachutes as unguided jets slammed into the ground, detonating in bright flashes. The pilots whose jets were spared flew back to the hangar, thankful beyond words.

Kaolin maneuvered her damaged jet into her designated spot in the hangar. Upon touchdown, she quickly shut the systems down and removed her helmet. The relief was far more satisfying than normal. Her face was damp with sweat and she was jittering as a result of the massive amount of adrenaline that had been streaming through her body almost the entire time. The experience had shaken her to the core; she saw so many people fall so fast that she figured she wouldn't make it out alive.

She laid a forearm on the console and rested her forehead on it for a few moments before gathering the will to climb out of her jet. There was a considerable amount of worry in her mind that Tails might not have made it, but she figured it was just paranoia.

A loud humming noise with a bit of a grind to it filled the air as Fiona's attack freighter metaphorically limped into the hangar. It was covered in blast scars and gashes, and one side of the vessel was hovering lower than the other, struggling to stay aloft with damaged gravity repulsors. Her face was fairly visible within the spacious cockpit, allowing her intensely bitter expression to be seen as well. The ship floated into an empty corner, and a loud 'pop' was heard before the lower side hit the floor. She shouted a string of expletives loud enough to where they could almost be heard through the thick armor plating of the formidable craft.

Almost a minute after that, Tails flew into the hangar using only his two tails, and Kaolin became visibly relaxed, closing her eyes briefly as she slackened her shoulders and breathed a sigh of relief before running to greet her husband. He took off his helmet once he spotted her, and the two embraced warmly in front of his empty parking spot.

"I'd have been here sooner, but my ship was fried in the EMP discharge."

A tear ran down Kaolin's face. "I'm just glad you're safe, hon. That's all that matters to me."

Along with various others, they made their way into the damaged base to check for survivors. It was an emotionally difficult journey due to the many bodies and puddles of blood that lay amongst the halls. Some of the victims were riddled with bullet holes while others were mutilated and in pieces. Tails found a few people he'd met and conversed with, and he fought the intensifying feeling of nausea that came with seeing them in such despicable condition. Kaolin held onto Tails' arm tightly as she, too, struggled with her feelings.

As they came upon an intersection with a hallway leading to the medical area, a loud blast was heard, and the person in front of the two foxes who was in the middle of the intersection was blown to his feet. He sat up a few seconds later, only to be shot twice in the chest by someone wielding a silenced submachine gun.

Those who had weapons quickly drew them, and the ones who didn't immediately sought nearby weapons cabinets.

Panic transfixed Tails and Kaolin since the blast came from the direction of the room where Antoine and the others were recovering. Tails rushed out into the open, largely unafraid of enemy fire because of his protective cybernetic suit. A lone gunman was guarding the door to the Freedom Fighters' medical room, who promptly shot at Tails before his skull was pierced by one of the vulpine's bullets. Two others were near Sonic's door, mere moments away from detonating the charge at its base. They, too, were taken down. Kaolin and a few others followed him as he ran down the passage to see if there were more assailants.

His curiosity was answered when another blast roared from the room—a sign that the secondary door had been blown down. He rushed inside and shot another attacker as three others fired at yet another door which led into the intensive care room containing Bunnie and Antoine. They ignored Rotor's bed since it was vacant; the walrus had wisely taken cover inside a closet.

One attacker saw Tails and got between his comrades and the fox, then sprayed numerous rounds at him before suffering critical chest hits. That gave them enough time to breach the door and run in, although the first guy got a taste of Bunnie's shotgun and was left with a hole in his neck. The last attacker avoided her blasts and unloaded half of his magazine into her upper body, then shot Antoine a few times before Tails extinguished his life with a couple of well-placed bullets to his back.

A numb feeling washed over Tails' body as he looked at his two friends—his face bore an expression that was nothing short of horrified.

--

Author's notes: Thank you again for reading, and please review! Keep an eye open for Chapter Seventeen!

--  
Canon Sonic characters and places © Sonic Team, Sega  
Kaolin, story, and other original content © NuclearCookout


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter Seventeen

The ice cubes in Tails' glass shifted as the level of the beverage reached the halfway point. He looked down as he adjusted the straw and curiously observed the light being reflected from their surfaces, then went back to ignoring them almost immediately as he resumed wandering the vast caverns of his mind.

It had been a little over twenty-two hours since the tragic attack on the base, and nearly every mental image from the ordeal made him wince slightly. Once all the fires had been put out and bodies cleaned up—or at least covered—at around four in the morning did the surviving denizens give themselves to attempting sleep. He had only managed to get three hours of rest before he snapped back to consciousness, wide awake. Kaolin beat him by getting an extra hour. They spent the following hour in each other's arms before getting showers out of the way and day attire donned. The majority of the day had been spent on cleaning and repairs.

The defense turrets had all been replaced and additional ones had been installed as well. Upon completing a system reset, the reactors allowed expanded use of maintenance and construction equipment as well as having regained the ability to sustain NICOLE's solid-light form.

He frowned when thoughts of the subsequent infiltration and attack on the Freedom Fighters themselves came back up, though there was some solace in the knowledge that it could have easily been worse. Bunnie had surprisingly survived her wounds, but only just. After receiving timely medical attention, she was placed on heavy life support and was under close and constant observation. Tragically, Antoine was dead upon inspection and was unable to be revived.

There were two survivors out of the attack team—the two individuals who had planned to blast their way into Sonic's room and murder him as their associate had murdered Antoine. Both had been taken into medical care and interrogated shortly thereafter.

The information gathered from them was quite interesting—the team had been observing the base for a decent amount of time, lying in wait for an opportunity to strike at the well-paid behest of Rukzyl-Karagator, one of the governments that had allied with Shauland. Their primary target had been Sonic, and if it wasn't for the fact that they were having trouble setting up that particular block of explosives at his door, they would have probably succeeded. They also gave the names of who they were working for and everything that had been spoken between them just prior to the attack, including when to be there and how far to stay away until the Xeniths had done their job. In other words, they had been tipped off to the Xenith strike. That meant their contacts might be in possession of information pertaining to the Xenith manufacturing facilities or at least knew of who did.

Tails siphoned the last of the drink from the bottom of the glass, then stared at the table for a little while. He listened to the voices around him, coming from various conversations. There were so many people at or near the bar either enjoying each other's company or simply having a drink and relaxing from a hard day's work that is was essentially an unofficial party. It would've made sense considering their victory against Shauland's drones, even if it was semi-Pyrrhic. That realization made him grin.

He looked to his left and saw Eddy Drasco and his two daughters a short distance away, along with May Milburn who was apparently talking up a storm with Amy. Even the two reticent felines who had accompanied them to the meeting room seemed to be enjoying the moment, one of whom was speaking with Rotor about something—Tails figured it was probably some sort of mechanics topic.

To his far right stood Oryn and Fiona at the end of the bar. There was a lot of laughter involved with their conversation, which again brought an ambivalent smile to his face.

He could pick out Kaolin's voice amongst the people behind him—a sound which kindled a true smile. She was talking with some people who admired her piloting skills and wanted to know a little bit more about her, and the attention certainly didn't bother her.

Kaolin looked down at her belt as her communicator buzzed. Upon examining it, she noticed it was a call from one of the base's administrative numbers. She let those around her know of the call's importance and thanked them for the conversation, then answered it as she walked away. As the call progressed, she walked out of the room and jogged away, having been notified that the leader of one of the base's resident factions wished to speak with her in person. Considering the fact that they were located on the opposite end of the sizeable complex, the trip would require a ride on the tram system.

Out of nowhere, Tails was met by a swat to the shoulder, causing him to jolt and nearly tip his glass over.

"Mr. Prower! I've been meaning to speak with you!"

He looked in the direction from which emanated the unexpected swat and cheerful voice. It was a young, brown-furred hyena wearing blue mechanic coveralls and a huge smile on his face.

"O-...okay?"

The hyena immediately sat on the stool next to the confused fox. "Heh, sorry about the startle. I'm Steven Smith of DraMerCo. Big big fan of yours. I've seen how you fly and heard how you have such a knack with machinery, and it's really really cool!"

Tails' expression brightened. "Heh, well thanks."

"It would be an honor if I could get you a drink."

"Nah man, I..."

Before he could protest further, Steven ordered two glasses of a rather strong alcoholic drink called Atomic Rave. "I love this drink. I got it all the time at the base."

Tails blinked. "I'm...not much into alcohol, but I appreciate the offer."

The hyena laughed. "Not much into alcohol? C'mon, just one? To celebrate a truly epic victory? I won't ask you to have another, and it's just a shotglass."

Against his better judgment, Tails went ahead and accepted. "Alright, just one. Couldn't hurt."

"That's the spirit!"

The drinks came moments later, and Steven downed his almost instantly, much to Tails' surprise. He practically slammed the glass down onto the countertop as he reeled from the bluntness of the beverage. "Hoo-boy, that is some good stuff!"

Tails flinched and looked down at his glass with a second thought.

"All ya gotta do is throw it back. It's not that bad."

The fox started to say something but stopped himself short. He grabbed the shotglass and drank it as fast as he could. Regardless of speed, it felt as though someone had whacked him in the face with an I-beam. _Oh, now I remember why I don't drink alcohol. This stuff is nasty._ That one in particular tasted like an unholy combination of whiskey, potpourri and brake fluid. He did notice a somewhat tolerable trace of sweetness, but that was tantamount to sprinkling nonpareils on a cookie made of shredded truck tires.

"Well?"

"That...was, um...unique." Tails set the glass down as he fought a growing sick feeling, then grimaced a bit. "Ehm...yeah. Thanks for the drink."

"No worries, man." Steven looked him over and noticed his expressions. "Hah, maybe that was a bit too strong for someone who doesn't drink often. Sorry about that."

Tails winced as the fluids churned in his stomach. "Don't...don't worry about it." _Okay, whoa. Slurred speech already?_ He knew he would've probably hated the drink since he never touched alcohol, but the feelings that were starting to overcome him caused him to believe that he had almost zero physiological tolerance for such beverages. The belief was strengthened when he began having trouble keeping his eyes pointed in the same direction.

With his mind telling him that he needed to go someplace else, he stood and bid the befuddled Steven adieu, then slowly walked toward the exit in the hopes of reaching his room without anyone noticing his condition.

Much to his chagrin, Oryn and Fiona noticed.

The cyborg looked at him with a rather concerned mien. "Hey Tails...you feeling alright?"

"I'm...I'm, uh..."

Fiona cocked a perplexed brow. "You look drunk."

"It was only one shot-...shotglass." His inebriated feelings continued to intensify. _No way. There is no way I'm drunk. I never get drunk...what is that miniature purple Robotnik doing in the corner in a gnome outfit...and why did it wink at me? Now it's gone...yeah, I'm drunk._

Oryn quickly grabbed Tails as he stumbled to the side. "Are you sure it was just one shotglass? Anyway, we need to get you to your room so you can sleep it off. Trust me, you do not want to be out in the open when drunk. You do things you will regret. I know this from experience."

"Ah, good...great idea. Onward we go to my room." _Hold it together. Don't lose your sanity. You can get through this._

Oryn and Fiona walked Tails to his and Kaolin's quarters, though with some amount of difficulty. One would have guessed he drank an entire case of beer if they so much as glanced at him due to his staggered gait and aloof expressions.

Oryn fished Tails' keys out of his pocket and unlocked the door, then handed them back to him. "Get some rest, man, and call me when you wake up. I have stuff that'll combat the monumental hangover you'll probably be feeling." His voice trailed off when his communicator buzzed. He looked at it and saw a message stating that his ship was smoking, causing him to panic a bit. "And yeah, sleep well. My ship is apparently on fire, so I'll be back later." With that, he sprinted off.

Fiona snickered while watching him run, then turned toward Tails. "How much did you say you had?"

"One...single shotglass. Shotglass of singleness. Tiny bit. Not much."

"What did it taste like?"

"Garbage and jet fuel...or something. Heh heh."

She narrowed her eyes. "Not terribly helpful info...wait, did it almost taste like potpourri and whiskey?"

"I guess."

The crimson vixen laughed. "Yeah, that would be Atomic Rave. Powerful stuff, especially for those with low tolerance. You are in for one [expletive] ride come morning, so enjoy the peace while you can."

"Oh goody." Tails blinked one eye, then the other. "Well, goodnight Fona...er, Fiona."

"Goodnight, Miles."

Tails was lightly pushed into his room and the door was closed behind him. He stood there for a few moments, swaying slightly as he tried to keep his balance. He still didn't understand how a shotglass of the stuff could pound him that hard, but not much else made sense to him at the moment. He couldn't really feel anything either, which included the needle that was just briefly inserted into his leg. What he did feel was someone brush past him as his senses quickly dulled further, and he struggled to make out who it was through his clouded vision—not clouded literally, but mentally. "F-...Fiona?"

"What are you talking about, hon? It's me, Kaolin. Are you feeling alright?"

He blinked insipidly. "Oh...no, I'm...drunk, appar-...apparently. One shotglass. Can you believe it?"

"Well that's no good."

"No it isn't...say, have you lost weight? Like...an unhealthy amount?"

Fiona gave an insidious grin and ran her hands down her waist in a seductive manner, then slowly took off her belt. "No I haven't. You're drunk, sweetie."

He watched her in a near-catatonic state as she gradually removed her one-piece flight suit, revealing a more casual outfit of shorts and a shirt that revealed her midriff. "Um...eh-heh...like...what are..."

She approached him and placed her hands on his shoulders. "What are what, Tails?"

"I dunno. I'm hungry now."

"Hungry for what?"

"Food? Like...food?"

"How about...me?"

"You silly, I'm not gonna to eat you 'Lin. I know that's..."—Hic—"messed up, and I'm dronk...drunk."

"Who said anything about eating?" She placed a hand on his abdomen and proceeded to circle him—with each pass, she removed another article of her clothing. "I think you know what I mean."

Once the last bit of clothing was removed, the seductress got behind him and began to unbutton his pants. He immediately grabbed her hands, which startled her since the chemical she injected him with shouldn't have permitted such a feat. "Oh I see what you did there." He turned around slowly and looked her square in the eyes. "You thought you had me, didn't you?"

Fiona's expression rapidly went from seductive to frightened. "Wait...what?"

He narrowed his eyes. "You honestly think I would ever allow this to happen? Do you think I'm that gullible?"

A flood of profanity rushed through her mind as she tried to think of a way out. _There is no WAY he withstood the effects of that dosage!_ "I'm...uh...under mind control!" _Oh yes, I'm dead now._

"You silly girl." He immediately took off his pants and shirt, then tossed them into a corner. "You thought I didn't know what you meant by 'hungry'. I know what's on your mind."

Fiona almost shrieked when Tails practically threw her onto the bed. However, as he prepared to leap in after her, he lost consciousness and collapsed to the floor, drooling. She sat up and stared at him for a few seconds, then gave a relieved smile when she realized the truth of the matter. _Oh, I forgot about that occasional side-effect of the chemical. Sudden lucid behavior. Silly me._

Embarrassed on a personal level, she quickly got off the bed and hauled him up to it, which was fairly difficult to do considering how he was considerably heavier than her. Once she positioned him to where his head was on the pillow and his feet were at the end of the bed, she undressed him completely, pulled the covers over both of them and wrapped herself around his body.

His eyes slowly began to open about a minute later. Upon seeing her, he grinned. "Hiiiii Kaoliiiin."

"Hiiii Taiiiils." _That sounded so stupid...but at least things are falling together nicely._

As the two began kissing passionately, Kaolin felt something odd within the back of her mind as she rode the tram to the other side of the base. It wasn't a stark feeling, but it was still unsettling. It gave her the impression that something bad was about to happen.

The magnetic strips keeping the tram aloft suddenly deactivated, allowing it to fall a few inches before grinding to an abrupt stop and nearly throwing Kaolin out of her seat. Adding to the ordeal, the lights went out and submerged her in almost complete darkness.

_Yep, something's wrong alright._

Kaolin sat there for a short while to see if the systems would reactivate, but no such thing occurred. She hopped out and flew the rest of the way, puzzled as to how and why all of the tram's systems went offline, including the lights on the ceiling of the tunnel. She thought the damages done to the tram by the Xeniths had been fixed, just as NICOLE had said they were, and NICOLE rarely made mistakes.

She made it to her rendezvous point and waited for a few minutes before asking someone about the call. They notified the faction leader in question, who subsequently denied any knowledge of a call made to the ashen fox.

_Something's fishy._

Her worry began to increase when she considered the possibility that it was a diversion, and she threw her two tails into full-gear to get back to her side of the base. A variety of scenarios ran through her mind along the way, but her greatest concern was that someone was trying to get to her husband. A fruitless attempt at calling him strengthened her fears.

She first checked the cafeteria's bar, but there was no Tails to be found. She then asked numerous people and got a mix of responses, none of which helped the issue. After pondering briefly, she rushed out of the cafeteria and flew down the hallways. If her next hunch was correct, there might not be a problem. Regardless of that possibility, she flew in semi-panicked haste.

_Maybe he's asleep in our room. I hope that's all it is._

It didn't take very long for her to reach her destination, both to her benefit and to the bane of those who were unfortunate enough to be in her path. She grasped the door handle with some reluctance, and a feeling of surprise came when she found it to be unlocked. The door creaked ever so slightly as it was opened, and what she beheld when she walked in incited a flurry of different emotions.

Upon the bed lay the unclad Tails and Fiona; legs, arms, and tails intertwined with the other's. The covers were on the floor to the side of the bed, having been pushed off earlier by activity that Kaolin figured would give her nightmares for quite a while.

She stood there with little motion, flinching slightly as she watched them slumber away. Part of her wanted to break down on the spot and cry. Another part of her wanted to scream and awaken them both with a paroxysm of drama. Still another part of her wanted to rip Fiona limb from limb.

All of those thoughts were quickly set aside—she knew Tails wouldn't do such a thing on purpose. She knew him too well. Their relationship was too wonderful for him to throw it all away like that.

Fiona continued to feign unconsciousness and struggled to keep herself from smiling. From Kaolin's expressions, she figured that was the end of that relationship. _Now go off and cry, fatty. Go get those divorce papers ready._

Instead, Kaolin's expression went blank a moment before she whipped out her pistol and shot Fiona in her exposed shoulder, sending a spray of blood across a small portion of the bed. She then smiled in a way that would've sent chills down the spine of a ruthless dictator. "Hi Fiona! You just won a trip to Kaolin's World of Hurt."

The loud shot incited nary a flinch from Tails, but Fiona's resultant scream jolted him from his drugged slumber, though only briefly. The crimson fox immediately rolled off the bed to the sheltered side. As Kaolin walked around to confront her, Fiona chucked a book fast enough to knock Kaolin's gun from her hands—causing it to misfire into a cabinet—and dove at her after yanking one of the wooden bedposts from its frame.

Kaolin dodged the first two swings but shrieked lightly when the wooden post hit her good leg. She grabbed the end of it and jerked Fiona toward her, where she swiftly planted a fist on her face and broke her nose. Fiona was sent stumbling backwards, which wasn't necessarily a good thing since it put her closer to Kaolin's gun—something she noticed almost immediately.

As Fiona rapidly reached for the gun, Kaolin propelled herself into her adversary with the help of her tails—the subsequent impact sent them crashing into a wooden dresser and the gun careening across the room. Fiona tossed the ash-gray fox off of her and grabbed a large shard of wood, but before she could use it, her skull was met by Kaolin's metal leg traveling at high speed.

Kaolin steadied herself and prepared for more, but lowered her guard a bit when she saw that her blow had knocked Fiona out cold. She retrieved and holstered her gun, then bound Fiona's hands and feet with some rope. _Biggest mistake of your life, woman._

She looked back at her sleeping husband with concerned eyes and prayed that whatever Fiona had drugged him with hadn't put him into a coma or given him some sort of brain damage. She then grabbed her communicator and called for help before walking over to his side. _Don't worry, hon. You're safe now. I'm not letting you out of my sight._

--

Author's notes: Fiona took it waaay too far that time, but what's next? Thank you again for reading, and please review! Keep an eye open for Chapter Eighteen!

--  
Canon Sonic characters and places © Sonic Team, Sega  
Kaolin, story, and other original content © NuclearCookout


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter Eighteen

"Well, I have your results, Miles." The doctor spoke with a concerned tone as he held up a datapad with information from Tails' medical exam, causing a knot to form in the pit of the two-tailed fox's stomach. "You were apparently hit with _two_ drugs, one of which was injected into your shoulder a short while before the other was injected into your leg."

Tails' eyes widened by a few millimeters when he remembered Steven's apparently friendly swat. _No wonder I felt a prick there when that happened. Seems we have certain hyena to search for._ He promptly grabbed his communicator and sent out a notice calling for a base-wide search for the culprit, complete with a surprisingly detailed description of him considering the disorienting effects of the drug that was administered by the guy.

The doctor continued. "It also appears the second drug incited arousal which, from what it looks like, Fiona took full advantage of."

"Wait, you mean we..." Tails' voice trailed off as the awful reality of the situation set in. He was irritated that he couldn't remember the incident past the point when he walked through the bedroom door, but at the same time he counted himself blessed considering the circumstances.

"I'm afraid so."

Kaolin was standing near the examination bed and watched as Tails' expression morphed from simply concerned to utterly shocked. Instead of becoming shocked herself, a great conflagration of rage ignited within her heart. She was glad Fiona had been put into a holding cell—not for the safety of those around her, but her own. It was bad enough that she had drugged and gotten into bed with him, but using said drugs to _rape_ him in addition launched it to another level.

It took a little longer for Tails to experience the anger that Kaolin felt, but once it hit, he wanted Fiona to face justice as soon as possible.

He looked over at Kaolin, then back at the doctor. "Is that all or is there more?"

"No no, you can go. We're done here."

He smiled and hopped off the bed, though with some instability from the residual aftereffects of the drugs. After thanking the doctor, he looked at his wife as she looked at him and grinned briefly, but it was obvious to her that he was trying to hide his emotions. His belt-mounted communicator buzzed unexpectedly and caused him to flinch slightly. He brought it up to his field of vision and saw a message from NICOLE about video files concerning Steven. "Looks like NICOLE beat everyone to the punch again, 'Lin. She wants us to meet her."

Kaolin nodded, and the two made their way to the main control room where NICOLE stood in her normal place as she regulated data and processes. Thoughts buzzed through their minds as they went—mostly of finding Steven, but some of them dealt with a fitting punishment for Fiona. Both of them, at the moment, possessed extremely vindictive feelings about the lascivious vixen's actions. However, vengeance wasn't part of their way of life and they knew it.

She reached over and grasped Tails' left hand with her right as they traversed the hallway leading up to their destination—one of her fingers lovingly pressed against his wedding ring. A very faint but very appreciative smile appeared on his face, nothing more.

NICOLE greeted them warmly as they entered and offered her condolences for the incident, then summoned two floating seats for the vulpine couple.

The holographic lynx walked in front of them and clasped her hands behind her back. "I have discovered that most of the video files from cameras along his probable routes had been erased. Normally this would be impossible without high-grade technology, so this 'Steven Smith' must be a professional." She then turned toward the main screen which promptly displayed a paused video clip. "I did, however, find one glimpse of a hyena fitting the description you gave. This is the video."

The video began playing, showing footage from a camera inside a room. Steven could briefly be seen walking past a doorway, apparently in a hurry. Shortly after that, the video stopped.

Kaolin tilted her head to the right slightly. "So, is there any idea as to where he is now?"

NICOLE turned back toward them and gave an irresolute nod, causing the two some concern. "I did receive a report from someone who had seen a hyena enter an atypical-looking ship and fly off about twenty-five minutes ago."

Their hopes immediately dampened. Considering how the incident occurred roughly thirty minutes prior, there was little chance he was anywhere within their vicinity.

"I am sorry I could not be more helpful."

Tails grinned. "No need for that. You did what you could, and we appreciate it. I do know of a certain someone who will be questioned very soon because of this anyway, so it's not a big loss."

NICOLE returned the grin. "Always a pleasure. Also, before you go, I would like to let you know that after I finished analyzing the information extracted from the two surviving attackers, a small group of operatives from the United Cyborg Hegemony and Guardian Units of Nations was sent to Rukzyl-Karagator to acquire information from some of the listed individuals. I am expecting to hear from them soon. I would have told you earlier, but they desired for me to keep it quiet at first."

Kaolin blinked in unison with Tails. "Oh. That's good. It's a little troublesome to know there's a lack of trust between them and us to warrant this being kept a secret, but I also understand the fragility of such missions."

Tails nodded, and NICOLE's expression brightened slightly before she spoke again. "I knew you would. I have one more thing to inform you of. There are some specialists examining one of the Xeniths. They have not gotten very far, but they have discovered numerous upgrades to the design as well as the official name, Xenith26 ARVaGeF."

"It all makes sense now." Tails angrily clenched a fist, and his voice gained a darker tone as he spoke. "We got a ton of info on the previous model because Robotnik wanted us to; it was only a prototype that wasn't a tremendous loss, which also made the previous overseer expendable. He probably sent waves of them at us _knowing_ we would defeat them. It was for his own research and probably the satisfaction of his sadistic sense of humor."

His comment brought a spark of impression to NICOLE. "I think you are on to something, Tails."

Kaolin spoke up. "What we need to do is determine the flaws of this model—besides a massive concentrated EMP pulse—and then predict any upgrades he might add to the next model."

"Correct, Kaolin. It is not quite as easy as it sounds, though. This will take a considerable amount of time unless we can wring system information or passwords from someone like last time. If the mission in Rukzyl-Karagator goes as planned, we might have more information to work with."

As Kaolin nodded her understanding, Tails squirmed uneasily in his seat and acted as though he was about to say something a few moments before he did. He really wanted to get Fiona's interrogation out of the way as soon as possible. "Well, we'd best be going. Got places to go and people to see."

"Try not to be too rough with her, Tails."

The two foxes stood, and Tails raised a skeptical eyebrow at the digital lynx. "We will do what we must. You know how these things go."

"Of course, but try not to let your emotions control your actions, because when they do, regrettable things happen."

Tails paused to consider her words, then thanked her before he and his wife walked out. They made their way to the detainment section and went through the typical security checks before approaching Fiona's cell.

The red fox was quietly sitting on the bed, rubbing the lump on her skull left by Kaolin's leg and silently fuming over the humiliation of being defeated by someone who was not only younger than her but, in her opinion, far less attractive. She looked over at the two as they entered, then greeted them with a smile brimming with hauteur. Tails immediately noticed her expression and got the sudden urge to rush inside and backhand her, but the feeling was quickly quelled.

"I take it you two are here to interrogate me—to brutalize me like the other poor saps you people capture?"

Tails huffed. "Only if you make it hard for us. If you cooperate, there will be no need to do so."

She caressed his body with her eyes, hoping to inflame his damaged emotions further. "But...what if I want you to hurt me?"

Before Tails could whip out a sharp riposte, Kaolin blurted out her own response. "I'll tell you what'll happen. You keep behaving the way you are, and I'LL come in there and hurt you myself...worse than last time."

Fiona rolled her eyes. "Oh, please. You got the upper hand last time because I was still reeling from the exhilarating thrillride I enjoyed with your husband." She then winked at the ashen fox.

Kaolin's eyes ignited. "Tails, give me the keycard."

He held his hand up to his wife in the 'wait a minute' gesture but kept his eyes locked on Fiona's. "Enough of this, Fiona. Firstly, I want you to tell me who Steven Smith is and where he came from."

Fiona laughed. "He's a good friend of mine I hired to drug you at the bar. Very knowledgeable in the ways of subterfuge. Steven Smith isn't his real name, but even if you asked, I wouldn't be able to tell because he has never told me his real name. One alias here, another alias there. That sort of thing. Additionally, I have no idea where he is or would be. He never tells me of his destinations."

Not sensing any hint of deception, Tails continued. "Alright, now answer me this. Why? Why did you do what you did to me?"

She laughed again, this time with a darker air to her voice. "I wanted you, Miles. I wanted someone who wasn't stupid like Scourge but had his strength, or something close to it." She flashed a glance at Kaolin. "As well, Kaolin seems so...homely and undeserving. I had to at least try to get you two to break up because it just wasn't right—someone as attractive as you with the likes of her. Why not choose my perfect, toned body and robust personality over her corpulence and weak-mindedness? It only makes sen-..."

"CORPULENCE?"

"Kaolin, she's only messing with your head." He looked at Fiona again. "I have one more question for you, Fiona." Before he could continue, his communicator buzzed. His expression dampened substantially when he saw the message, and he whispered his final question into Kaolin's ear before hastily returning the device to his belt and rushing out of the detention area, then into the labyrinth of halls.

Fiona looked at her curiously and flicked an ear. "What was that all about?"

"It doesn't concern you. There's one more question to ask before I go as well. H-..."

"You know, Tails is pretty good, regardless of the fact that he was drugged."

Kaolin did her best to ignore Fiona's taunt. "How did you hack into the administrative communication channel?"

"Why did you allow yourself to get that big?"

_You want BIG? I'll come over there and park my BIG BUTT on your FACE and smoth-...no, calm down. Such responses only entertain her._ She raised an eyebrow. "Are you going to answer me or do I have to come in there?"

"You think you have what it takes to take me down again and then torture me, big girl?"

Kaolin smirked. "Considering the lump on your skull, which is probably distractingly painful, yes, I believe so. To answer part two, yes."

"I'm sure the fact that I enjoyed an obscenely wild and fantastically passionate sexual experience with your husband would make that easier for you to do."

"Oh you know it." _Bah, I shouldn't have said that._

Fiona stood from her bed with a glimmer of challenge in her eyes. "Then come get me. Let's dance."

She knew Fiona probably had a nasty trick up her sleeve. The thought of walking in, shooting the seductress in the leg, and then beating the information out of her did cross her mind, but the light-gray fox thought of a better plan. "Instead of that, I'm going to have someone take you to an official interrogation room, where you'll be strapped helplessly to a chair as someone makes you wish you had talked earlier."

A mien of disappointment appeared on Fiona's face, accompanied by a somewhat derogatory tone. "But not you? I thought you said you weren't afraid to torture me?"

Kaolin flashed a look at her that was harder than stone. "You don't want me to be the one doing it, I assure you that."

The crimson vixen indulged in Kaolin's threat and nodded approvingly. "I'm liking the darker side of you. You know, you remind me of a younger...me—except my hips were never that big."

"Seriously, your mockery of my weight isn't even insulting anymore, it's just stupid. It makes me pity you and question your ability to come up with quality invective...if there is such a thing."

"Like how your husband looked me in the eye and called me by my proper name when we were going at it? Seems being drugged wasn't the only thing driving him."

_I'm giving her something else to work on. Better stop._ "You'll have to be more convincing than that. Anyway, I'm leaving now and sending some people to take care of you. You should really consider telling us your method of how you hacked into the administrative communications, for your own sake."

Fiona grinned darkly. "I'm no stranger to physical pain."

Having heard that, Kaolin shrugged apathetically and walked out. She really did pity Fiona—not only for her beliefs but what was about to happen to her—but the odious vixen had it coming.

She went into the checking room, plucked her communicator from her belt, and summoned an interrogation team to retrieve Fiona. Right as she ended the call, the device buzzed and displayed a message from Tails—one which served to hamper any shred of happiness she had.

"It's my mother. She's not doing too good."

--

Author's notes: Thank you again for reading, and please review! Keep an eye open for Chapter Nineteen!

--  
Canon Sonic characters and places © Sonic Team, Sega  
Kaolin, story, and other original content © NuclearCookout


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter Nineteen

The door to Amadeus and Rosemary's room made a few faint creaks as Kaolin slowly pushed it shut after walking in. Though not nearly loud enough to be disruptive, the sounds made her wince. The situation seemed grim enough that any noise could cause irritation. Upon observing the room's occupants, her heart sank further; Tails was standing next to his mother's bed with a hand on hers, and Amadeus was seated on the opposite side of the bed, bleary-eyed. Rosemary appeared to be completely comatose and had more tubes protruding from her body.

As Kaolin drew closer to Tails, the tears on his face became more visible. Indeed, he appeared to be in a substantial amount of emotional pain, despite the fact that he was trying to hide his emotions.

He couldn't quite understand why so many horrible things had to happen almost all at once. He almost lost Kaolin, he inadvertently killed hundreds of innocent civilians, Robotnik was somehow still alive, Sonic and Bunnie were clinging to life, Elias and Antoine were dead, he was drugged and raped by a psychopathic seductress, and now it was looking like his mother was about to die from some rare and deadly disease. All of those thoughts coalesced into one big pulsating knot of angst that made him want to break something with a large blunt object.

Kaolin consolingly slid her arm around Tails' lower back and to his side, causing him to return the gesture. His expression soured for a fraction of a second before he calmed himself further and led her over to a corner. He leaned into her ear with the intent of telling her the full extent of the problem, though his voice wavered as the wall holding his tears back began to fracture. "They say her organs have begun to fail faster than projected. She's on heavy dialysis and will probably need a breathing tube soon. The experimental treatment is still days away and it doesn't look like she's going to make it through the night."

All it took to break him was for Kaolin's saddened eyes to meet his. He closed his eyelids tightly as the tears flowed with less reservation, then fell into his wife's opening arms.

They made their way outside of the room and sat down on a bench, where the two took some time to calm down and gather themselves. Tails was more distraught than Kaolin, but she was still extremely upset. Tails' parents had essentially been surrogates to her, and seeing Rosemary dying was almost like watching her own mother die a second time.

Tails shook his head and wiped another tear from his muzzle. "It's too much. It's just too much. So many horrible things have happened in such a short amount of time. I don't understand why."

Kaolin mopped up some of her tears with the collar of her shirt, then looked over at her husband. "Well, all things happen for a reason. We just have to pray for guidance and trust in God."

Tails nodded. "I know. I always have and I always will. I'm just perplexed mainly by how my mom, of all the people in the world, would contract a disease so rare, according to the doctor, that it has only been documented in two other people. It's a fairly recent illness...too." His voice trailed off and his eyes widened slightly when he came upon the idea that perhaps it wasn't a natural disease. It didn't respond to any synthetic or biological treatments like all other sicknesses did. A lot of people hated him, so why not sneak a prototype virus into his mother, not only for research purposes, but to see him suffer?

He glanced over at Kaolin with a perspicacious glimmer in his eye. "I think we should visit Fiona. I have an idea."

Kaolin looked at him and blinked. "Oh...what?"

The golden-orange fox stood from his seat and extended his hand to help her up. A fleeting grin broke his otherwise doleful expression. "Concerning mom's sickness. Fiona's been pretty much everywhere, so maybe she has some sort of insight."

Still displaying perplexity, she grasped his hand and stood. "Yeah, but...it's _Fiona_."

"If there was another option I'd go for it."

Considering how she didn't have a better idea, she went along with the plan and figured Tails knew what he was doing.

They began walking toward the detention area, but Tails slowed his pace briefly as he looked over at his other half. "Oh, did she answer the question?"

"No. She got very snippy, so I called a team of guards to escort her to an interrogation room."

"Figures."

They went back to the holding cells where they found three guards struggling to get Fiona into restraints. The truculent fox was doing everything she could to keep them off of her.

He made his presence known to the guards so they wouldn't panic from what he was about to do. Fiona locked eyes with him as he made his way closer to her cell and had little time to react before he drew his pistol and fired one shot at her. The bullet whizzed past her ear and collided with the concrete wall behind her, providing enough of a distraction to allow the guards to tackle her all at once and administer various restraints. The action caused Kaolin to look at him as though he was crazy, but she kept silent and remained steadfast.

Pleased, Tails spoke once Fiona had been properly bound. "Fiona, this is obscene and ridiculous. You were answering questions very well until I left."

Fiona's scowl was broken when she flashed a toothy smile. "Yeah, well I don't answer to people like her."

He looked at one of the guards, then at the door, inciting the guard to open it and allow him inside. Fiona kept him firmly in her sights as he walked past the guards and knelt down next to her face. She figured he was going to give another meaningless threat, but she had some tricks up her sleeve that she planned to use to her benefit.

"Listen Fiona, this isn't about how you hacked into the administrative communication channel earlier. I have a question pertaining to something I thought you might have some knowledge of since you've been all over the place." He leaned in closer. "What do you know about biological weapons?"

Her expression switched from cold and bitter to a calmer shade of irritation with a hint of confusion. "I've come across a few."

"Are you familiar with one that is unresponsive to every known treatment and causes fatigue, weight loss, muscular weakness, forgetfulness, and finally organ failure after being in the body for about ten or eleven months?"

She looked off to the side as she thought, then looked back at him. "Yes. I once worked with someone who had a few samples. He said they came straight from Robotnik's lab—an old bioweapon project that didn't take off."

_Figures Robotnik would be involved._ "Did he have a cure or some sort of treatment?"

"Yes. It was..." She paused for a moment and gave him a suspicious look. "There's something you're not telling me, isn't there? Somebody you know was infected, weren't they?"

Her question tipped him off to the probability that she wanted something in return. "They just might have been."

Fiona grinned. "I can tell you, but you have to do something for me."

Tails' expression hardened. Without a second thought, he brought his pistol around and shoved the end of the barrel down on her temple quite forcefully, pinning her head to the floor and causing her a substantial amount of pain. "Firstly, you were technically already paid, unless you've already forgotten our steamy encounter less than an hour ago. Secondly, I'm holding all the cards here. You have no leverage whatsoever."

Tails' words amused her, but his gun didn't. She struggled to speak without sounding as though she was in pain. "Good one, but without my answer, whoever it is you're trying to help will die. Go ahead, shoot. SHOOT ME. Splatter my brains all over this floor, because then all the hope you had will vanish."

His expression hardened further. "And then I will make sure that every mercenary, contractor, and anyone you ever met knows that you died without a shred of honor left to your name. I will tell them that you pleaded for mercy and cried like a small child before I pulled the trigger, and I will have NICOLE fake a video of the entire ordeal in the highest amount of detail possible. I will spread so much propaganda smearing your name that anyone who had ever done business with you will repudiate having had any contact or deals with you. You will go down in history as a meager lowlife who would have been better off having never been born. Furthermore, you will never get to enjoy all that you have worked so hard for. Your fortune and other possessions will gather dust and eventually be snatched up by those who find them."

The sheer venom in his words made her believe that he wasn't kidding, and the thought of it all brought her a feeling of pure fear which Tails, for the first time, could see deep within her blue eyes. Still unwilling with allow her ego to be trampled, she responded in a way that denoted incredulity as well as cooperation. "I doubt you would be that cold-hearted, but I suppose there really is no point in me holding it back since you did technically pay me already. I can't explain how to make it because it would take too long, especially considering the fact that you mentioned the rapid final stage of the disease which tells me that the person who has it is hours away from death. I'll need a lab to work in."

It first seemed like she was just making an excuse to get herself out of the holding cell and into an environment full of objects she could use to facilitate an escape, but they really were running out of time and he didn't sense deception in her words. "Alright, you'll get a lab, but you will be under surveillance so profound that we will see anything and everything you do. Additionally, NICOLE will have sensors of every kind in every part of the lab to detect any dangerous chemical or biological agents you might create. Are we clear?"

"Crystal clear."

"Good."

He stood and holstered his pistol, then walked out and told Kaolin of the plan. She expressed some skepticism but agreed to it regardless. Once NICOLE had been contacted and an agreement had been met, Fiona was moved under heavy guard to a laboratory in another section of the base.

For ten minutes, Fiona stood in the lab and concocted the supposed cure to Rosemary's illness. After she had announced that she was done, she was taken to Rosemary's bedside and injected the cure into a specific point on her upper back near the spine. The doctors were dumbfounded when her vital signs began to stabilize only a few minutes after it hit her bloodstream, but they were concerned that too much damage had been done already. If Rosemary was going to be fully cured, some of her organs might need to be replaced with cybernetic mimics—a claim Fiona attested to since she had seen such things happen.

"See? I wasn't lying, was I?" The crimson fox wore a somewhat conceited smirk as she spoke. "It will take time, but it should massacre those little viruses effectively."

Tails was almost in tears at the sight of his mother's slowly improving condition, as was Kaolin. Amadeus was in tears, however, and he held his wife's hand as he watched eagerly for any minute signs of stirring. He was willing to sit there for hours if it meant he would be the first to see her eyes open again.

The guards approached Fiona and placed her in cuffs again, which slightly disappointed her judging by her facial expressions. "I suppose this means I'm heading off to interrogation, now?"

Tails looked at her and frowned. "Unless you answer the question I asked earlier."

"Fine. Within my confiscated PDA is a procedural code with a description. I will need to enter the password to access it because if someone else does, the device will explode and warrant the need for a new pair of hands for the poor sap who was holding it."

"Alright." Tails looked at the guards. "Guys, take her back to holding, but don't give her the PDA until I get there. I'll be there shortly."

The guards acknowledged and escorted Fiona toward the door. As she walked past Tails, she moved her bound hands to the side and pinched one of his buttocks. The action prompted the guard behind her to jerk her hands back into position, but Tails stopped the procession and grabbed the hand that pinched him, then gazed coldly into her eyes. "Do that again and you lose the hand. Got it?"

"Sure thing, hon." She puckered her lips in a kissing motion briefly.

Irritated by her continued brashness, he motioned for the guards to continue and scowled as he looked away. _She just won't give up._

--

Author's notes: Thank you again for reading, and please review! Keep an eye open for Chapter Twenty!

--  
Canon Sonic characters and places © Sonic Team, Sega  
Kaolin, story, and other original content © NuclearCookout


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter Twenty

Fiona stared at a stained spot on the cold concrete floor as she sat handcuffed on a steel bench. It was the sort of stare that would give rise to an unnerved feeling if directed toward a person, as though the individual staring was considering slaughtering them brutally. She was practically exuding an aura of bitterness; thoughts of how she had failed to break up Tails and Kaolin danced through her head like a mob of excited ravers, and those ravers were wearing cleats dipped in hydrofluoric acid. As well, the fact that she had been bested by his not-thin wife continued to scorn her. The whole event had been one massive humiliation, offset only by how she had managed to cause them pain.

The two lean pantherine guards didn't seem to pay too much mind to her—they just stood there staring at a wall while awaiting Tails' arrival. Despite avoiding direct eye contact, they were keeping tabs of her movements with their peripheral vision.

They snapped to attention as Tails walked in with Kaolin in tow, and their presence—especially Kaolin's—irritated Fiona further, though her face showed nothing hinting of it. Tails glanced at the crimson vixen with a mien even harder than hers. The chilling look confused her considering how she had helped his mother onto the path of recovery. If anything, he should have at least had a grateful countenance wrapped in a layer of austerity.

The golden-orange fox walked over to the guard who was holding the PDA in question and retrieved it along with a key to Fiona's handcuffs. He examined the sleek, diminutive device with some curiosity before he turned to Kaolin and whispered something into her ear, then walked toward his red feminine subject. "It's time we get started, Fiona."

Fiona thought about responding with a snippy sexual comment again but decided against it. She had a feeling that she would get more than a verbal reprimand since his expression was still as cold as a polar ice field in the winter. It didn't feel right to hold her tongue in such a situation; she would've normally continued in her contumacy with a smile even if it earned a sharp swat to the face, but she figured it was the fact that a cold bottle of beer had been absent from her grasp for almost an hour.

Tails reached behind her and removed the cuffs while Kaolin kept the barrel of her pistol trained on the conniving vixen's forehead. Once the PDA was placed in her grasp, she fixed her eyes on the small screen and started pressing the miniature buttons with her dainty fingers. The commands she entered incited the hologram projector on the top to display an image of her screen into the air above it, and Tails observed the data with intrigue.

"Happy now, Miles?"

"Absolutely."

NICOLE was watching from a surveillance camera and analyzed the information as it was shown. She then used the data to make some adjustments to the security systems and notified Tails of the development shortly thereafter.

Tails showed an almost unnoticeable amount of happiness upon receiving the update, then looked at the vixen again. "Thank you very much, Fiona. We got some holes patched in the systems, so that shouldn't be possible anymore. Now, please hand me the PDA."

Fiona smirked. "Why would I want to do that when the fun is just beginning?"

"What do you mean?"

"You'll find out in about, oh, three seconds."

The ceiling above them exploded, sending all but Fiona and Tails to the floor and causing Kaolin to misfire at a wall. Fiona took that opportunity to shove Tails down and land a swift kick on his face, sending one of his teeth sailing across the room and briefly robbing him of consciousness. A flexible ladder dropped down from the gaping hole in the roof, which Fiona quickly grabbed and rode to the ship above as it brought the ladder back into the fuselage upon detecting her presence. She then jumped into the pilot seat and took off amidst a hailstorm of defensive bullets pelting the dense hull.

Kaolin sat up from the floor with ringing ears and a pounding headache. The shrill noise of the sounding alarms only served to aggravate the latter. _If I had just pulled the trigger sooner..._

The ashen fox looked at those around her and panicked when she saw her husband's bloodied face and motionless body. She rushed to his side and pressed two fingers against his neck, then gave a sigh of relief when she felt his pulse and moved her face up to his. "Tails...are you okay? Can you hear me?"

Tails lurched his head forward and gave her a kiss on the lips, then slowly opened his eyes to make contact with hers. "I think so. Face kinda hurts, but I feel fine otherwise."

Kaolin smiled, and Tails got to his feet and looked up at the hole in the ceiling. A lot of dust was still floating about and sparks from severed cables could be seen.

"Tails! Kaolin! Anyone! Are you alright?"

The unexpected sound of NICOLE's voice coming in over their comms startled them, and Kaolin plucked hers from her belt and answered first. "We're fine, but it seems Fiona escaped."

"I saw that. I have sent a probe after her, but I think she noticed." A short pause followed. "Probe is down."

Tails spoke up moments later as he rubbed his facial wound. "I think she used her PDA to activate an autodrive on her ship or summon some help that was nearby."

NICOLE attested to his previous guess. "The cameras showed it to be her ship."

Irritated by what he saw as a lack of foresight on his part, he glanced down and sighed. "I shouldn't have let her touch that PDA."

His response prompted Kaolin to look over at him with slight concern. "It wasn't your fault. We were watching her and she still slipped under our radar."

"Yeah, but I still should've seen it coming." He huffed. "Now that psycho is on the loose. I..."

NICOLE suddenly interrupted with an urgent tone to her voice. "Sorry to interrupt, but I have just received word that the mission in Rukzyl-Karagator was a success. I am in the process of analyzing the data they gathered, and once that is done I will be planning a meeting."

Good news was just what they needed.

It didn't take long for NICOLE to go through the information, and a meeting was slated to take place within the hour. In the meantime, the resident factions engaged in internal discussions, and because NICOLE had told them of the meeting's primary subject, began preparing themselves for battle. A successful mission possibly meant that the Xenith production facilities had been found.

Eventually, the time came for the meeting to begin, and the turnout was much higher than the previous one—so much so that they almost held it in a warehouse. To accommodate, they removed the table and chairs, thereby requiring everyone to stand.

Sally stood upon a small crate near a wall and prepared to speak. It was obvious she hadn't been getting enough sleep, apparent in both speech and appearance, and the fact that she had lost two people who she cared for dearly compounded the issue.

"My friends and colleagues, the mission in Rukzyl-Karagator went better than we had hoped. We not only have even more names and locations of various enemies and other threats, we now know of where the Xenith factories are." Sally pressed a button on a small remote which brought up the image of a map on the wall from a projector. She then turned toward it and used a bright laser pointer to guide their eyes to the subject areas. "This is a map of the nations near Rukzyl-Karagator. The one with the facilities lies southwest."

Surprised murmurs were heard amongst the crowd when they saw the laser dot indicating Teminany. The small, once-formidable nation—an ally of Shauland—had been completely obliterated by nuclear strikes. Its surface had been reduced to a wasteland of highly radioactive glass, and the small inland sea bordering it to the south had been contaminated almost to the point of sterilization. Initially thought to be a terrible place to set up such a facility, it made sense because the inhospitality gave an edge of concealment.

"The factories are near the center between two major blast craters, and satellite images show a surprisingly low amount of defenses. I propose a joint strike operation. We would need a large carrier vehicle for the fighters, the fighters themselves, and some larger ships. Now before you question the survivability of the mission, there is another development I must alert you of. Upon inspecting a Xenith26, we found an exploitable flaw that can, in logical theory, render the machine harmless. The casing surrounding its gyroscope is unable to protect against strong gamma radiation. If we can fire a very intense beam of gamma radiation through the many joints and seams in the vehicle, the circuitry associated with the gyroscope will sustain damage and the vehicle will be unable to fly with stability. Unfortunately, the power required is too great for fighters to handle, so augmentations—which we already have the equipment and supplies for—will be for larger vessels only. The fighters will serve primarily as bombers."

The voice of Cedric Fitzhugh, a tan-furred fennec whose stature was overshadowed by most of those around him, quickly stood out from the numerous whispers and mutters. "Cypress Securities International will assist with three combat frigates and whatever fighters we can muster."

Eddy Drasco also voiced his cooperation. "We have one battle-ready cruiser which we are willing to utilize, along with our pilots. I would offer more, but the other cruisers are still undergoing heavy repairs. Actually, that would depend on when this mission is to take place."

Sally nodded. "I was just about to get to that. We are aiming for launch tomorrow afternoon, and the mission itself would begin roughly an hour after that if we are to travel across the northern pole in low orbit. This is assuming our carrier vehicle would be able to travel the seventy-one hundred, fifty-five mile journey in such a manner. Since Teminany is twelve hours ahead of us, the mission would take place early in the morning there."

"Alright, I don't think the others will be ready by then, but we will do what we can."

Numerous other leaders pitched their support, and the pledged fighting force ended up being more than that which was projected necessary to carry out the mission effectively. Everyone left the meeting with a strong sense of anticipation, despite the obvious dangers. All they wanted was to end the immediate threat of Shauland's drones, and when that was accomplished, it would put them one step closer to being victorious.

--

Note: Again, I thank you all for taking an interest in my story! I'm going to take a little more time with producing the finale, Chapter Twenty-One; perhaps a couple of weeks or less. Part of that time will be spent polishing the previous chapters. Keep a sharp eye out!

--  
Canon Sonic characters and places © Sonic Team, Sega  
Kaolin, story, and other original content © NuclearCookout


	21. Chapter 21

Note: After 15 months of almost no writing willpower, it's finally here. Sorry to those who were waiting. I also reworded the part in Ch20 concerning the gamma ray weakness so it makes a little more sense. Enjoy!

Chapter 21

_Alright, here we go. Here...we...go. A new battle is over the horizon. Don't panic. It'll all go according to plan._

Tails' eyelid twitched. The golden-orange vulpine sat there in the seat of his docked fighter craft, squirming uneasily in the partial cocoon of his flight suit and crash harness. He knew it wasn't much longer until they were within range of Teminany, and the thought merely served to provoke the massive feeling of anxiety churning within the depths of his stomach. The distressing events that had happened prior to the mission were still running though his mind, like a quiet cacophony, and his concentration and disposition were suffering because of it. The pain in his face from Fiona's kick didn't help the matter. _Just keep it together, Tails. It won't be as bad as you're thinking._

His fighter was one of hundreds nestled in the racks of the main deployment bay of the enormous orbital carrier vessel, all overlooking a massive twin-door which was the only thing between them and the vacuum of the planet's upper atmosphere.

"Deployment is in five minutes! Make your final checks now!"

The alert was blared in each cockpit and nearly made him jump out of his skin. It compounded the air of nervousness around not only him, but everyone else inside the speeding carrier vessel as well. He began frantically checking over everything that needed to be checked and jumped again when his ship started to make noises he wasn't used to hearing, though they were nothing more than confirmation sounds resulting from chatter between his ship's computer and the carrier's systems to double-check how everything was running.

Kaolin's ship was situated adjacent to his on the right. She was actually less nervous than her husband and finished her final checks before he did, then looked over at him to smile through the open visor of her helmet and wave. Her motions went unnoticed for a few moments before he took notice and reciprocated them with a mixture of joy and disquiet.

The massive carrier creaked as it pitched downward and began rattling vigorously as it reentered the atmosphere. The shockwaves that were produced as the hull plowed through the air at dazzling speeds interacted with shockwaves produced by nearby orbital vessels and caused even more ruckus. This caused the fighter ships to vibrate intensely even with the shock absorbers, and didn't help the edgy pilots, who were doing all they could to stay calm, whether it was repeating assurances of victory, praying, or muttering nervous phrases laced with profanity.

Teminany was coming in range quickly, and with each passing moment, the anticipation in the air intensified like a fire having rocket fuel tossed upon it. Within each cockpit, holographic screens showed a three-dimensional image of their target area, as well as two-dimensional trajectory maps and other statistics bars. The plan was essentially to encircle the base like a swarm of sharks, protect the bombers as they bombed the base, and shoot anything that shot back.

Alarms began to sound as the massive bay doors began to open, and the first rows of racks holding the fighters positioned themselves over the opening.

Tails flinched. _NO...no. Do not doubt. This is going to go fine. It's all in God's hands. Victory is ahead...victory is ahead!_

One by one, the fighters were ejected into the cold open air. Kaolin was grinning as her ship plummeted out of the carrier, and once she was a safe distance from the vessel, her ship's engines ignited and propelled her ahead of the fleet with the others. "Woo!" was her response to the sudden G-forces while a dull groan was Tails'.

On the bridge of the _Avenger of Station Square_, Eddy Drasco sat pinned to his seat as he watched the fighters streak ahead with a big, confident grin. He knew that, depending on the circumstances, most would either make it back to their base alive or most would perish. The latter thought was doleful, but in either case, he believed that the transpiring events would lead to the downfall of the factories. As everything happened, he hummed a victory tune to himself.

Down on ground level, flashes could be seen from various spots on and around the main facility, as well as what appeared to be shimmering black smoke emanating from the sides of the huge complex. The flashes were from large artillery batteries, and the smoke was comprised of thousands of ARVaGeFs, each with a deadly mission.

Upon seeing this, everyone got a sense of nervousness at the sheer number of drones and higher amount of cannons than what the satellites showed, but they knew it was bound to occur. It was unlikely that General Keryns would let such an important complex lack in defenses, despite its hazardous location. It was then that they hoped their higher-than-expected support would be enough.

The larger ships broke their reentry formation to avoid the shower of artillery while the fighters prepared to engage the facilities and defense cannons. The artillery rounds flew at them like incandescent meteors and plowed head-on into the hulls of some of the larger ships with massive force. One such ship, a cruiser owned by Cypress Securities, seemed to be a primary target and was assaulted relentlessly by the luminous ammunition. It quickly rolled to port and pitched downward, but the stresses of the hasty maneuver, combined with the vessel's intense orbital velocity, allowed the artillery to make short work of it. Part of a terrified distress signal was heard before the craft broke apart and detonated in a bright flash, snuffing the lives of all aboard and those unfortunate enough to be within proximity of the blast or in the path of the resulting debris.

The explosion jarred Eddy, who was frankly surprised at how fast the craft was taken down, and he muttered some shocked and rather tactless phrases to himself. He grabbed his communicator with one of his thick hands and pressed the talk button. "Press on, you soldiers. Keep going and don't stop 'til the enemy is scattered across the landscape as scrap!"

The Xeniths spread out like a giant obsidian flower in bloom and engaged both battleships and fighters. They swung around from behind and unleashed a furious shower of metal, hitting the hulls hard, but the ships' gamma cannons proved to be effective in taking many of the fighters down within a matter of seconds. The more common solid projectile and energy cannons also did their part in defending the ships from the drones that came too close.

"Target in range in five seconds!" shouted one of the commanders to the pilots over the radios. This caused each of the pilots to tense up in preparation for what would likely be an extremely pivotal battle in the war, and hopefully one to hasten its end.

The allied fighters quickly came within range of the facility and immediately began dropping highly explosive charges as they darted starboard. It seemed as though they were flying through luminous rain due to the sheer number of anti-aircraft projectiles being shot at them. During the first few seconds, numerous fighters sustained critical hits and spiraled to the irradiated surface below, detonating brightly as their added payloads ruptured along with them. Ejection was not a desirable option since the radiation was high enough to kill any living thing in a matter of minutes.

Despite the danger, Kaolin proceeded with confidence, carrying out her part of the raid with great effectiveness. She wanted each and every ally of Robotnik, organic and mechanical, to be wiped off the face of Mobius so that they could no longer take or torment the lives of the innocent. Especially that of her husband.

The intense bombing campaign destroyed most of the smaller emplacements in less than a minute and damaged the smaller buildings that surrounded the primary one. The aircraft circled the facilities like a writhing ring of piranhas and, once the defensive fire had gotten to a relatively safe level, focused their firepower on the facilities themselves.

Eddy looked on with a smirk, immensely pleased that the battle seemed to be tipping in their favor. The facilities were surrounded by numerous plumes of thick, black smoke, and fires were visible; one of which had engulfed one of the minor factories. However, his joy dampened when a rattle was felt, and alarms began to go off. The Xeniths had managed to destroy a turret on his ship by divebombing into it, and this action alerted the others of its kind to follow suit. Since their bullets and more upfront maneuvers were not working as anticipated, suicide presented itself as a more feasible tactic.

The large feline scowled. _This is bad._

Tails was continuously gaining more confidence as the shower of bullets diminished, though he was still extremely tense like most of his fellow pilots. _That's right, taste retribution. Your reign is about to end._

He arrowed away from the main facility, then arced up and back and sent a pair of missiles at its broadest side. The explosives plowed into the wall, followed by more as his fellow pilots did the same. Much to their surprise, the missiles did nothing. They only left a series of scorch marks and dents. Tails' expression darkened. _Great._

The airwaves were subsequently abuzz with chatter from fighters reporting that the largest facility was too heavily armored for their missiles to penetrate. Oryn in particular expressed his doubts, which were growing considerably. "Nothing we're doing is penetrating those walls. If we can't do this soon, we may have to pull back."

The Xeniths continued to bombard the battleships with kamikaze attacks, leading one of them splitting in half and careening into the ground, meeting its end as a streak of flaming debris.

Eddy observed the situation with a dire look on his face. He fumbled with his communicator and announced the initiation of the next course of action to his fellow combatants. He then set it down and firmly planted both hands on the arms of his seat with naught but a determined, if worrisome, frown to express what was going on in his head.

The larger ships quickly ordered the fighters away from the main facility and began to load tactical nuclear weapons into their respective launchers. Kaolin grinned confidently; surely nukes would do the trick.

Once the fighters were outside the EMP radii, the go-ahead was given. The missiles darted out of their tubes, streaking ahead like ribbons, but almost as soon as they took flight, they were shot down by the still-large number of drones.

One missile, however, managed to evade the onslaught and reached its target, detonating in a blinding flash and blowing dust and debris away from the affected area, and crumpling the walls of the smaller buildings nearby. Again, much to their dismay, the tactic proved futile as the primary building continued to stand in defiance.

Nothing seemed to be able to break that building, and since the nukes and anything else fired from the larger ships could not reach it due to the increasingly aggressive drones, the fight was starting to look grim. The pilots were losing faith right and left, but continued to do their job, which at that point was to protect the cruisers and themselves from the drones—especially Eddy's ship.

By that point, the _Avenger_ had been damaged almost to the point of criticality. Smoke was billowing from various holes, and one of the engines was losing power rapidly. Eddy looked ahead and watched as one enemy was shot down and hit one of the outer wings of the facility, shattering like glass. Upon seeing this and the flickering emergency lights, he made a difficult but firm decision. He ordered the evacuation of the ship, switching everything over to automated systems and watching as smaller ships sped away. He calculated a trajectory, and made it so every nuke remaining in its arsenal was rigged to explode in thirty seconds. The ship was brought around to face the facility head-on, and the throttle was set to full; its engines intensifying greatly in luminosity. He then boarded his own escape vessel and took off, subsequently gazing back at the burning ship with a heavy heart. _Go out with a bang, baby._

The valiant craft crashed into the facility at full-speed, and its ammunition detonated in succession. The immense bulk of the vessel was substantial enough to rip any wall it hit to shreds, and the nukes finished the rest of the facility off in a bright flash, incinerating the vulnerable contents and flattening all other structures nearby with the powerful shockwave.

The eyes of everyone present widened with shock and awe. Messages overtook the radios, declaring the successful destruction of their main target. Kaolin cheered, and Tails laughed to himself in a surprised and relieved way.

The drones continued their attack for a few seconds before simply exploding, raining down as small chunks of metal and giving the opposing pilots much surprise.

Oryn's jaw dropped. "What...what's happening? Was the facility the source of their power?"

"Not likely. I doubt they would just explode from power loss. I don't know what happened, but it sure does bring me a smile!" Eddy laughed.

Kaolin was beside herself with delight. "Alright! Great job everyone!"

Tails nodded unnoticeably. "Heh, now maybe we can enjoy at least some kind of peace for a short while."

Subsequent reports from the other Freedom Fighter establishments and their global allies stated that the other drones had self-destructed as well, and this became a cause for celebration as the warriors returned home. Unbeknownst to them, it was not from a loss of power or direction, but due to being deemed useless by their creator himself.

Robotnik walked away from his large viewscreen after witnessing the events. The cyborg tyrant wore a bitter scowl, though this was out of deep thought rather than anger. However, he smirked as he looked at a different screen which was streaming with data collected by his units. The shimmering lines of code reflected off his glasses, and he began to chuckle insidiously. Another image popped up, revealing a three-dimensional diagram of yet another drone model. _This war has only begun, Freedom Fighters. Prepare for suffering on an untold scale._

-  
Notes: So ends Hover Totality: Escalation, at long last. Now that that's done, I can focus on the next installment, which will entail the conclusion of the war. Thanks to all who have taken the time to read, and those who have gone the extra mile to comment. I invite you to keep an eye out for Hover Totality 6!

Canon Sonic characters and places © Sonic Team, Sega  
Kaolin, story, and other original content © NuclearCookout


End file.
